The gear you buy to do your job is deductible, whether it is a drill, a laptop or a decent office chair. The only question is whether you claim it all at once or over a few years.
Checked against ATO guidance, July 2026. $300 or less: deduct the whole cost this year; on mixed use gear you claim the work % only; keep the receipts 5 years, same as everything.
Anything that costs $300 or less and is mostly for work can be deducted in full the year you buy it. Hand tools, a keyboard, work boots, a battery charger. Buy it in June and the deduction lands on the very next return.
One catch: the $300 limit applies per item, but you cannot split a set. A $500 socket set is one item, not seventeen small ones.
Gear over $300 is claimed as depreciation, spread over the item’s effective life. A laptop is typically two years, power tools around three, and the ATO publishes the full list. You claim a slice each year, starting from the day you start using it.
Use the laptop for work and Netflix? Claim the work share only. Estimate the split honestly, write down how you got there, and apply it to the cost or the depreciation. A simple note like “80% work, based on a four week diary” is enough.
Repairs to work gear, insurance on your tools, and interest on money borrowed to buy equipment are all deductible in the year you pay them. So is the bag you carry the tools in.
Where Nomo fits: scan the receipt when you buy the gear, set the work split once, and Nomo keeps the record and the category right through to your July export.
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.