Retail uniforms and the black-and-white clothing myth

The clothes you wear on the shop floor are the most common wrong claim in retail, and it is easy to see why. The store tells you what to wear, you only wear it to work, and it feels like a cost of the job. The tax rules see it differently, and getting this one right is worth more than any other single line in a retail return, because it keeps a knocked-back claim off your assessment.

What conventional clothing means

You cannot claim buying, hiring, repairing or cleaning conventional clothing, which is everyday clothing people wear regardless of their job. The ATO uses a retail example directly: a plain white shirt and black pants worn by shop employees. That clothing stays private even where the store makes it compulsory and even where you only ever wear it at work. Being told to wear it does not change what it is.

The black-and-white and own-brand myth

This is where most retail workers come unstuck. A dress code is not a uniform. Being required to wear all black, a black-and-white combination or a "smart" look does not make ordinary clothes deductible, because none of it distinctly identifies your employer. The same goes for the store's own label. If you work in fashion and the store expects you to wear its current range, that clothing is still conventional, and buying it, even at a staff discount, is a personal purchase rather than a work expense. Selling the stock does not make wearing it a deduction.

The clothing that does qualify

Four narrow categories are deductible, and retail clothing has to fall inside one of them:

• A compulsory uniform. A distinctive set, usually carrying the employer's logo, that a strict and consistently applied policy requires you to wear. A logo polo or a branded shirt is the common example.
• A registered non-compulsory uniform. A uniform your employer has entered on the Register of Approved Occupational Clothing, administered by AusIndustry. Without that registration, a non-compulsory uniform does not qualify.
• Genuinely protective clothing and footwear. Items that protect against a real risk of injury or illness, covered in full in the protective gear chapter.
• Occupation-specific clothing. Clothing that distinctly marks out an occupation and is not everyday wear, which is rare in retail.

The plain-pants trap

Even a genuine logo uniform has a catch. Say the store gives you a branded shirt to wear with your own plain black trousers and closed black shoes. The logo shirt is a compulsory uniform and is deductible, along with laundering it. The black trousers and the shoes are conventional clothing, so they are not, no matter that the store requires them in a particular colour. The logo is what earns the deduction, and the plain items worn alongside it do not inherit it.

How to claim laundry

When the clothing itself qualifies, washing it is deductible too. The ATO accepts a reasonable per-load basis: a dollar a load where you wash only work clothing, and fifty cents a load where it goes in with your personal washing. If your total laundry claim is $150 or less you do not need written evidence, though you still have to show how you worked the figure out, so it is not an automatic amount. Dry-cleaning and repairs are claimed at their actual cost with receipts. One more point that trips people up: a laundry allowance from your employer is income you declare, but it does not on its own make the clothing deductible. The clothing still has to be a genuine uniform or protective for any of it to count.

The bottom line

Start every retail clothing question with one test: does this item distinctly identify my employer, through a logo or a registered uniform, or genuinely protect me? If yes, the item and its laundry are deductible. If it is a black-and-white outfit, plain trousers, the store's own brand or anything you could wear off the clock, it is conventional clothing and stays off the return, whatever the dress code says. For what you can claim, the protective gear and phone, study and union chapters carry the rest.

General information only, not tax advice. Check the ATO or a registered tax agent for your situation.