What can I claim on tax (Australia)? The common deduction categories Australians claim are work-related expenses (tools, equipment, union/professional fees, work subscriptions), working-from-home running costs, work-related car and travel, self-education directly related to your current work, tools and equipment, and gifts/donations to deductible-gift-recipient (DGR) charities. Every category has the same requirement: you must have incurred the cost to earn your income, and you must be able to prove it. Always confirm current rules on ato.gov.au or with a registered tax agent — this is educational information, not tax advice.
The $300 rule. You can claim up to $300 in total work-related expenses without written evidence (receipts) — but you still must have actually spent the money, it must relate to earning your income, and you must be able to show how you worked out the figure. The $300 cap excludes car, meal-allowance, award transport-payment and travel-allowance expenses. If your total work-related claim is more than $300, you need written evidence for the whole amount.
The real blocker is the receipts. A deduction is only worth what you can substantiate, and at tax time the receipts are scattered across Gmail, camera rolls, bank statements and faded paper. ExpenseBot scans a whole Australian financial year (1 July – 30 June) from your Gmail, finds the receipts you forgot (supplier invoices, subscriptions, ride/travel confirmations, online orders), reads the amount, GST and vendor from each, and categorises them into a Google Sheet you own. Prior years can be recovered with a Deep Scan.
Deadlines. The Australian financial year runs 1 July – 30 June. Self-lodged returns are generally due 31 October (next business day if that's a weekend). Using a registered tax agent usually gives a later lodgment date, provided you're on the agent's client list before 31 October.
Sole traders. Your deductions sit next to your business income on the same return. ExpenseBot tracks income (Stripe, PayPal, invoices, cash) alongside expenses, and at year end produces a deduction-annotated report for Australia with a Tax Form Summary organised against ATO expense categories.
What ExpenseBot does not do: it is not a tax agent and does not lodge your return or fill in an ATO form. It organises your deductions and the receipts behind them so lodgment is fast. Learn more: What Can I Claim on Tax · Expense Tracker Australia.