When you can and can't claim deductions for the cost of transport while working and between home and work.
Trips while working and between workplaces
You can claim a tax deduction for the cost of transport on trips to:
perform your work duties – for example, if you travel from your regular place of work to meet with a client
attend work-related conferences or meetings away from your regular place of work
deliver items or collect supplies
go between 2 or more separate places of employment, such as if you have more than one job (but not if one of the places is your home)
go from your regular place of work to an alternative place of work that isn't a regular place of work (for example, a client's premises) while still on duty, and back to your regular place of work or directly home
home to an alternative place of work that isn't a regular place of work to perform your duties, and then to your regular place of work or directly home (this doesn't apply if the alternative place of work has become a regular workplace).
Trips between home and work
You can't claim trips between your home and place of work, except in limited circumstances.
These trips put you in a position to start work and earn income but are not part of performing your work duties. The cost of these trips is a private expense.
This is the case even if you:
live a long way from your regular place of work
work outside normal business hours – for example, shift work or overtime
do minor work-related tasks on the way to work or the way home – for example, picking up the mail
go between your home and regular place of work more than once a day
are on call – for example, you are on standby duty and your employer contacts you at home to come into work
have no public transport near where you work
do some work at home
work from your home running your own business and travel directly to a place of work where you work for somebody else.
When you can claim trips between home and work
There are some circumstances where you can claim a deduction for the cost of trips between home and work. You must check that you meet the eligibility conditions for at least one of the following:
Home is a base of employment
Transporting bulky tools and equipment
Itinerant or shifting places of work
You may also be able to claim a deduction for a trip that includes an alternative place of work that isn't a regular place of work – see Trips while working and between workplaces.
Home is a base of employment
You can claim a deduction for the cost of a trip from home to your place of work if your home was a base of employment. You must meet all 3 of these conditions:
You're required to start your employment duties at home then travel to your regular place of work to complete those particular duties.
Undertaking the work in 2 locations is necessary due to the nature of your employment duties.
The trip to your regular place of work isn't part of a normal trip to work that would have occurred anyway.
Transporting bulky tools and equipment
You can claim a deduction for the cost of trips between home and work if you need to carry bulky tools or equipment and all the following conditions are met:
the tools or equipment are essential to perform your work
the tools or equipment are bulky, meaning that
they are awkward to transport because of their size and weight
they can only be transported conveniently using a motor vehicle
there is no secure storage for such items at the workplace
you don't transport the tools or equipment as a matter of choice (for example, if your employer provides secure storage and you choose to take the tools home instead).
If you claim a deduction, you will need to keep a record of:
all work items you carry
the size and weight of all work items
evidence that the items you carry are essential to your work
evidence that your employer did not provide secure storage at the workplace.
Itinerant or shifting places of work
If you do itinerant work (you have shifting places of work), you can claim transport expenses you incur for trips between your places of work and your home. The following factors indicate you do itinerant work:
you travel because it's a fundamental part of your work, not just because it's convenient to you or your employer
you have a 'web' of workplaces you travel to throughout the day and no fixed place of work
you regularly work at more than one work site before returning home
you are often uncertain of the location of your work site
your employer pays you a travel allowance because you need to travel continually between work sites, and you use this allowance to pay for your travel.
Claiming a trip
To claim a tax deduction for the transport expenses of a work-related trip, you must:
have spent the money yourself and weren't reimbursed
have records of your expenses.
How you work out your claim amount depends on whether you made the trip:
in your car or other motor vehicle
by taxi, ride-share or public transport.
If you travel overnight to perform your work duties, you can generally claim a deduction for the cost of your flights and your expenses for accommodation, meals and incidentals.
If your travel is partly private, you can only claim a deduction for the transport expenses you incur in the course of performing your work duties.
Find out all the details on what you can and can’t claim here / ATO