Uniforms, laundry, and what clothing you can claim

Clothing is the category where a strongly held belief meets a narrow rule. "My boss makes me wear black pants" is not a deduction.

flowchart TD
  item[This clothing] --> cat{Occupation-specific, protective, or a compulsory uniform?}
  cat -->|No| no[Conventional - not deductible]
  cat -->|Yes| yes[Claim the item]
  yes --> laundry[Laundry follows if the clothing qualifies]

The three categories that work

Occupation-specific clothing. Distinctive to a particular occupation and not conventional in daily life — a chef's checked trousers, a barrister's robes. A nurse's plain white shoes don't qualify; conventional items don't become occupation-specific by being worn at work.

Protective clothing and footwear. Items whose purpose is protecting you or your ordinary clothes from real risk of injury or damage: steel-capped boots, hi-vis, hard hats, safety glasses, sun protection where you work outdoors, aprons, non-slip nursing shoes.

Compulsory or registered uniforms. A uniform that identifies your employer, worn under a strictly enforced policy. Non-compulsory uniforms are deductible only where the design is registered with AusIndustry.

Everything else — suits, business shirts, plain black trousers, ordinary shoes — is conventional clothing, and conventional clothing is private even when it's mandatory and even when you'd never wear it otherwise.

Laundry

If the clothing qualifies, cleaning it does too. There's a long-standing concession: you can claim laundry costs up to $150 without written evidence, using a reasonable basis:

Load type	Rate
Only work-related clothing	$1 per load
Work clothing mixed with private items	50c per load

That $150 sits inside the overall $300 work-expense threshold — exceeding $300 in total claims doesn't exempt your laundry from being reasonably calculated, and it isn't a bonus $150 on top.

Dry cleaning and repairs need receipts, whatever the amount.

What to record

• Which category the item falls into, and one line on why
• The receipt for purchases
• For laundry, the number of loads and the rate you used

"Hi-vis shirts — protective, worn on site" is enough. Written at purchase time it takes five seconds; a year later you'll be guessing whether that invoice was the uniform or the plain shirts.

Related things people miss

• Sun protection — sunscreen, sunglasses, hats — where your work genuinely exposes you to the elements. Apportion for private use.
• Grooming and haircuts are private, including for customer-facing roles.
• Employer-supplied or reimbursed items are not yours to claim.
• Compulsory uniform accessories, like branded ties or shoes specified in the policy, can follow the uniform.

The test that saves time

Ask whether the item is something a person could reasonably wear in ordinary life. If yes, it's almost certainly not deductible, regardless of the dress code. If no — because it's distinctive, protective, or branded — you're probably in one of the three categories, and the job becomes keeping the receipt and a one-line reason.