Police uniform and laundry deductions
what the ATO accepts

The ATO lets you claim clothing only if it falls into one of four categories. Ordinary clothes fail, even if your employer insists on them and you only wear them at work. The good news for police is that the ATO's police guide states that your normal police uniform meets the requirements for a compulsory uniform.

Being in one of these categories is only the first step. You must also have paid for the item or its cleaning yourself and not been reimbursed. Most forces issue uniform free, so for many officers the real claim is laundering it, not buying it.

If the force buys, repairs or replaces your uniform, you can't claim it. You can claim items you genuinely pay for, such as replacement trousers bought before the next issue, an extra shirt from the official supplier, or alterations to fit. Forces handle uniform differently, which changes what's left to claim.

The same rule applies across the board: you claim what you spent on deductible items, not what you were paid. See the full police deductions guide for how allowances and deductions interact.

The ATO accepts a reasonable basis for washing, drying and ironing qualifying work clothes at home, including laundromat costs. You don't have to use it: you can calculate your actual cost per load instead. Most officers use the reasonable basis because it's simple.

The ATO's own police example is a general duties officer who washes his uniform once a week in a single load for 48 weeks: $48. Count the weeks you actually worked, leaving out leave, long service leave, secondment in plain clothes and time off injured. Your annual leave entitlement, which differs by force, is in the police leave guide.

Claim the loads you actually did, for the weeks you actually wore the uniform. A round number with no working behind it is the claim most likely to be cut.

The rules changed on 1 July 2026, so it matters which return you're doing. The return most officers are lodging now is for 2025-26, which still uses the old exceptions.

1. 1

   Decide whether you'll itemise

   July

   If your uniform, laundry and other work costs are under $1,000, the standard deduction is simpler and gives a bigger deduction.

2. 2

   Start a simple laundry log

   Every week

   A note in your phone or the myDeductions tool: the date, whether the load was work-only or mixed. A monthly tally is enough if it's accurate.

3. 3

   Keep one piece of evidence of cost

   Once or twice a year

   The ATO says you need evidence the expense was incurred, for example a detergent receipt or a power bill.

4. 4

   Add it up at 30 June

   Tax time

   Work-only loads × $1 plus mixed loads × 50c, then add dry-cleaning and repair receipts.

The ATO's compliance approach for the new rules sits in a draft ruling, LCR 2026/D5, so details could still be refined. We'll update this page when it's finalised.

The $1 and 50c rates are a shortcut the ATO accepts, not a cap. You can work out what a load really costs you and claim that instead, but you then need records for every part of the calculation. The ATO's own 2026-27 example shows how.

At $1.34 a load, two work-only loads a week for 46 weeks comes to $123 instead of $92 on the reasonable basis. The difference is about $31 of deductions, worth roughly a third of that in tax. For most officers that isn't worth collecting power bills, water notices, detergent receipts and machine specifications for.

The actual-cost method makes more sense if you use a laundromat, where each load has a clear price, or if you dry everything in a dryer and your power costs are high. Whichever method you choose, the ATO says you must be able to explain why the clothing is deductible in the first place.

Yes, at actual cost. You can claim dry-cleaning and repairs to qualifying clothing, including a uniform the force supplied, as long as the force doesn't pay for or reimburse the cleaning. This is separate from the $1 and 50c laundry rates and was never covered by the $150 no-records rule, so keep every receipt.

Footwear is where most uniform claims are overstated. The ATO's general clothing page sets a strict test for shoes, socks and stockings in a compulsory uniform. They only qualify if they're an essential part of a distinctive compulsory uniform, and the uniform policy specifies their colour, style and type as an integral and distinctive part of it.

Shoes, stockings and underwear can never form part of a registered non-compulsory uniform. If you buy boots, keep the receipt and a copy of the uniform policy wording that specifies them. If you also wear them off duty, claim only the work share.

The ATO's police guide says business attire worn to court and the everyday clothes plain clothes officers wear are conventional clothing. You can't claim buying them, and you can't claim laundering, dry-cleaning or repairing them. The ATO's example is a plain clothes officer who buys her own work clothes: none of it is deductible.

These allowances are taxable income, and the clothes they're meant to fund aren't deductible. So a Victorian detective on the female rate of $4,146.91 a year pays tax on all of it at their marginal rate. That's a real cost to factor in when you weigh up a move to detective work.

Protective clothing and equipment is deductible when you face a real, not remote, risk of illness or injury at work and the item protects against it. The force normally supplies body armour and duty equipment; you can claim additional or more sophisticated items you buy yourself, and you can claim laundering protective clothing.

Cold-weather gear is a trap. The ATO's example is a Melbourne officer who buys thermals and a fleece for winter night patrol on top of her issued jacket. They're conventional clothing and not deductible, because she doesn't work in an extreme cold environment such as an alpine area. Items that cost more than $300 are claimed over their effective life.

The ATO's police guide includes a NSW student police officer who has to buy PT clothing in a specific colour scheme with a distinctive police logo. That kit forms part of the compulsory uniform for student officers, so buying and maintaining it is deductible. Plain sports clothes in a required colour aren't: the guide says fitness clothing such as tracksuits, running shoes and socks is conventional even if it must be a particular colour.

What recruits can claim depends on how each force structures and pays for academy training. Our recruit pay guide shows which forces employ you during training, and the main police deductions guide covers academy travel and study costs.

The ATO's police guide includes examples from specialist units. They show the same principle applied again and again: an item is deductible when the role creates a real need the force doesn't meet, and not when it's a matter of comfort or choice.

If you're moving into a specialist unit, check what the force issues before you buy. The ATO's rule on items the force provides is strict: if it's supplied, there's no deduction, even if you'd prefer your own. For an overview of specialist roles and how to get into them, see specialist police units.

Take a WA First Class Constable on the base rate salary of $107,977 from the current agreement table. They do two work-only uniform loads a week for 46 weeks, buy a replacement pair of uniform trousers for $85 from the official supplier, and have a uniform jacket dry-cleaned twice for $60 in total. These are example amounts.

That's a worthwhile claim, but on its own it's well under the $1,000 standard deduction that applies from 2026-27. Unless this officer has other work costs taking the total over $1,000, they'd do better leaving uniform and laundry out and taking the standard deduction, with no laundry log needed.

Uniform is one part of the picture. Car trips to court and training are often worth more: see police car and travel deductions.