Testers, tools, a licence to renew and a day of back-to-back jobs. Here's what sparkies can claim.
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By the Nomo team · Last reviewed 24 September 2026
Tools you buy for work are claimable: $300 or less in full the year you buy them, over $300 as decline in value over several years. A kit counts as one item, so a $350 set is claimed over time even if each piece is cheap.
Test and measurement gear, like multimeters and insulation or RCD testers, often costs more than $300, so it's usually claimed over several years. Repairs, recalibration and insurance on your own gear are claimable for the work share. Anything your employer supplied or reimbursed isn't. More in tools and equipment.
The ATO names electricians specifically: you can claim the cost of renewing the licence you need to work. The cost of getting your first licence, the one that qualified you for the job, isn't claimable.
Courses that maintain or improve the skills you use in your current job, like refresher training you need to keep working, are self-education. Rules on what each state requires vary, so check your regulator. See self-education expenses.
Protective gear is claimable because it protects you from a specific risk at work: insulated gloves, arc-rated clothing, safety glasses, steel caps, and sun protection for outdoor work. Plain workwear, jeans and everyday shirts aren't.
A service or maintenance day is six jobs and a wholesaler run, and the drives between them are work travel. Parking and tolls on those trips count too.
Home to your first job is usually private if you have a regular workplace. Being on call isn't enough to change that. It can count if your work is itinerant (a web of job sites and no fixed base), if you carry bulky tools with nowhere secure to leave them, or if home is a base of employment, which has three strict conditions. See driving between job sites.
Under one tonne carrying capacity, it's a car: claim work trips by cents per km (91c for 2026–27, up to 5,000 km) or the logbook method. One tonne or more, it isn't a car: you claim the actual work-related costs with records. See the ute rule.
From 2026–27, you can take a standard deduction of up to $1,000 with no receipts. Tools, PPE, licence renewals and work driving all reduce it. Union fees are claimed on top.
| Example (illustrative amounts) | Covered work expenses | Better option |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial sparky on one site: $400 of tools and PPE | $400 | The $1,000 standard deduction |
| Service electrician: 3,000 km between jobs ($2,730), $600 of tools, $250 licence renewal | $3,580 | Claiming actual expenses |
Run your own numbers in the standard deduction calculator.
Nomo records each drive between jobs while you work and reads the wholesaler receipt, so the tester you bought in March isn't forgotten by July. Nomo is an Australian tax deduction and mileage/work kilometre tracking app for PAYG employees and sole traders.
Tag each drive Site visit or Pickup.
Every job-to-job drive for the year.
Wholesaler receipts, read and kept.
Electrical contractors on an ABN claim business expenses in the business section of their return, and the standard deduction doesn't cover business income. Eligible small businesses (turnover under $10 million) can deduct assets costing less than $20,000 in full under the instant asset write-off. Nomo keeps the trips and receipts. It doesn't track your income or do your BAS. See sole trader tax deductions.
Yes, the work share. If it cost more than $300, you claim it over several years.
The renewal, yes. The first licence you needed to get the job, no.
Yes. Home to your first job is usually private if you have a regular workplace, even when you're on call.
Yes, protective gear you paid for and weren't reimbursed for.
It depends on carrying capacity. One tonne or more means actual costs, not cents per km or a logbook.
Your costs are business expenses, claimed in the business section of your return.
Every job, every receipt.
Drives between jobs and wholesaler receipts, all year. 14 days free, no card needed.
Start 14-day free trialBy the Nomo team · Last reviewed 24 September 2026. We check these pages against current ATO guidance and update them when the rules change.
General information only, not tax advice. Rules change and everyone’s situation is different, so check ato.gov.au or talk to a registered tax agent about your situation. Nomo is a record keeping app, not a registered tax agent.