Tax Deductions for Tradies: Keeping Your Receipts in Order
Tradies rack up work-related costs faster than almost anyone. Tools, fuel, materials, safety gear. Each one is a receipt that matters at tax time, and each one is easy to lose on a worksite. Here's what those costs typically look like, and a simple system for keeping every receipt where you can find it.
Common work-related costs for tradies
The ATO's occupation guides set out what's relevant for different trades. Costs that tradies commonly keep receipts for include:
- Tools and equipment (purchases and repairs; bigger items may be written off over time)
- Protective clothing and PPE (steel-caps, hi-vis, gloves, sunscreen and the like)
- Vehicle and travel, running costs for work travel between sites (with a logbook or kilometre records)
- Materials and consumables bought for jobs
- Licences, tickets and training directly related to your current trade
- Phone and internet (the work-related share)
Whether any of these apply to you depends on your circumstances and the rules for your trade. The ATO is the authority on eligibility, and a registered tax agent can advise on your specific situation.
The records you need
For most of these costs, the evidence is a receipt or invoice showing the date, supplier, amount and what you bought. For vehicle travel you generally need a logbook or a record of work-related kilometres. The ATO requires you to keep records for five years from when you lodge.
A faded thermal receipt from the hardware store is still a valid record, but only if you can read it. Capturing a clear photo on the day protects you when the ink gives up six months later.
A simple system that survives the worksite
The tradies who breeze through tax time aren't more organised by nature. They just capture as they go. The system is short:
- Snap it on the spot. Photograph every receipt the moment you're handed it, before it lives in the ute console for a month.
- Sort it once. Give it a category (tools, fuel, materials) so it's grouped, not just stored.
- Forget about it. When tax time comes, it's already a tidy list you can hand over.
Where Recpt fits
Recpt is built for exactly this. Snap a receipt with your phone, and the AI reads the merchant, date and amount and suggests a category you can confirm in a tap. Everything sits in one searchable place, and at tax time you export a clean CSV with every receipt image attached, ready for your accountant or registered tax agent.
Recpt doesn't decide what's deductible or work out your refund. Those are decisions for the ATO rules and a registered tax agent. It just makes sure the paperwork is organised before you get there.
Stop losing receipts on the worksite
Snap, sort, done. Recpt keeps your tradie receipts organised year-round. Free to start. No card needed.
Try Recpt free →Keep reading
- How to organise receipts for tax (without the shoebox)
- Work from home tax deductions in Australia: a record-keeping guide
This article is general information about record-keeping, not tax advice. Recpt is a record-keeping tool, not a registered tax agent. Rules change. Always check the current ATO guidance at ato.gov.au and consult a registered tax agent before lodging.