Shift work makes the travel rules confusing and the uniform rules are stricter than most people expect. Here is what nurses and midwives can actually claim.
Checked against the ATO nurses and midwives guide, updated 11 May 2026
Protective clothing — non-slip nursing shoes, scrubs, gloves and face masks you buy yourself — is claimable because it protects you from a specific risk at work. So is a compulsory uniform: one your workplace explicitly requires under an agreement or policy, enforces consistently, and which is distinctive enough to identify the organisation. Conventional clothing does not work. A white shirt and black pants are everyday clothes, so they are not deductible even if your ward requires them.
Annual practising certificate fees, union and professional association fees, and agency commissions and fees are all deductible. So are technical and professional publications, and equipment like a stethoscope or a pin watch. Continuing professional development to maintain your registration is claimable, and so is further study that deepens what you already do, such as a Master of Health. Study that only relates to your job in a general way, or that is really about moving into a different career, is not.
Being on call, starting before dawn or working a public holiday does not make the trip to your usual hospital claimable — it is still ordinary home-to-work travel. What you can claim is driving directly between two separate jobs on the same day, driving between clinics for the same employer, and going from home straight to an alternative workplace such as a training venue.
Phone, data and internet are claimable for the work-related share with records to back it up. But if the only thing you use your phone for is messaging your manager about shifts, or checking rosters, payslips and income statements, that is not deductible work use. Not claimable: flu shots and other vaccinations even if work requires them; childcare, fines and music subscriptions; a white shirt and black pants; study aimed at a different career.
Where Nomo fits: Nomo logs the drives between clinics on its own and keeps the AHPRA renewal, the CPD invoice and the scrubs receipt together, categorised and ready for July.
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 before you lodge. Nomo is a record keeping tool and does not lodge returns.