What Can I Claim on Tax Without Receipts? 2025–26 vs 2026–27

Short answer: for 2025–26 and earlier returns, you can claim up to $300 of work-related expenses in total without receipts (laundry of up to $150 counts towards it), small expenses of $10 or less each up to $200 a year with a diary note, and car expenses for up to 5,000 work km at the cents per km rate. You must still have spent the money and be able to show how you worked out the claim. From 2026–27, the $300 and $150 rules no longer apply: eligible employees get a standard deduction of up to $1,000 instead, with no records needed.

What You'll Learn

• What you can actually claim without a receipt
• Understanding the ATO $300 rule (2025–26 and earlier)
• Claiming car expenses without keeping every receipt
• Using bank statements as evidence
• How a diary can support small expenses
• What changes from 2026–27

Lost a receipt? It happens to the best of us. But don't write off that work-related expense just yet. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) knows that paper receipts can be lost, damaged, or not provided. You might still be able to claim a deduction.

The most important thing to remember is this: 'no receipt' does not mean 'no record'. You absolutely still need to prove the expense was legitimate.

Which year are you claiming for? The $300 and $150 laundry rules below apply to 2025–26 and earlier income years. From 1 July 2026 they no longer apply, and eligible employees get a standard deduction of up to $1,000 instead. See 'What changes from 2026–27' below.

What You Can Actually Claim Without a Receipt

A missing docket doesn't automatically kill your claim. But it also isn't a free pass to claim whatever you want. To successfully deduct any expense from your taxable income—with or without a perfect paper trail—it has to pass the ATO’s three golden rules.

The Three Golden Rules of Tax Deductions

Think of these rules as a non-negotiable checklist for every single dollar you want to claim. They are the bedrock of Australia’s tax laws, and every claim must satisfy all three.

• You must have spent the money yourself. The expense had to come out of your own pocket, and you can't have been paid back for it by your employer.
• The expense must be directly related to earning your income. There needs to be a clear link between what you bought and how you earn your income. The work-use portion of a laptop you use for your job? Yes. A new gaming console? No.
• You must have a record to prove it. This is the crucial part when a receipt goes missing. Without the original, you need some other solid evidence.

The core principle is simple: a claim must be legitimate, and you must be able to prove it. The ATO’s flexibility on receipts is a practical measure, not a loophole to be exploited.

Moving Beyond the Paper Receipt

So, what counts as a proper record if you don't have a receipt? The ATO accepts various forms of proof, and the documentation you need often depends on the type of expense and its amount.

This could be a detailed bank or credit card statement showing the transaction, a properly kept logbook for car expenses, or even a diary entry noting small cash purchases. For a deeper dive into what’s generally deductible, check out our guide on what you can claim on your tax return.

But what about the specific allowances the ATO provides for claims without receipts? Let's break down those rules, including the $300 total limit for work expenses that applies for 2025–26 and earlier years, and look at what alternative records will keep you in the clear.

A Quick Summary of the Rules

Here's a summary of the main exceptions for 2025–26 and earlier years.

Key exceptions for 2025–26 and earlier

• Small expenses: each $10 or less, up to $200 in total a year. Keep a diary note made at the time.
• Total work expenses: up to $300 in total without receipts. You must have spent the money and be able to show how you worked out the claim.
• Laundry: up to $150 without written evidence, at $1 a load for work clothes only, or 50c for mixed loads. This counts towards the $300.
• Car (cents per km): up to 5,000 work km per car. No receipts needed, but keep a diary showing how you worked out the kilometres.

This table provides a great starting point, but it's important to understand the details behind each rule to make sure your claims are solid and ATO-proof.

Understanding the ATO $300 rule (2025–26 and earlier)

This rule applies to your 2025–26 and earlier tax returns. It was removed from 1 July 2026.

Ah, the old "$300 rule". It’s one of the most talked-about parts of Australian tax law, yet so often misunderstood. Many people hear about it and think it's a free pass from the tax office—an automatic, no-questions-asked discount on their tax.

Let's be clear: that’s a risky way to think about it, and the ATO doesn't see it that way.

The rule allows you to claim up to $300 in work-related expenses without keeping individual receipts for each purchase. But this isn't a magic wand. You still have to prove you actually spent the money and that the expense was directly tied to earning your income.

What Is Covered by the $300 Rule?

This rule was really designed to make life a bit easier for those small, incidental costs that pop up in most jobs. Think of it as a way to handle the minor, everyday purchases you make to do your work.

Common things that fall under this umbrella include:

• Stationery like pens, notepads, and printer paper.
• Professional publications such as industry magazines or journals.
• Small tools and equipment you need for your trade.
• Union fees or professional association memberships.

For instance, a teacher buying stickers and posters for their classroom, or a graphic designer paying for a monthly subscription to a design journal, could potentially count these towards their $300 claim.

The $300 allowance is a threshold, not a gift. It simply changes the type of proof you need, shifting the focus from individual receipts to a credible explanation of how you calculated your claim.

What Is Not Covered by the Rule?

It's absolutely crucial to know where the line is drawn. This rule has firm limits, and certain expenses are completely excluded, no matter how small the cost. These categories have much stricter record-keeping rules.

You cannot use the $300 rule for:

• Car expenses (these have their own rules, covered below).
• Expenses covered by a travel allowance.
• Expenses covered by an overtime meal allowance.
• Award transport payment allowance expenses.

The exception covers employees' work-related expenses. It doesn't cover business expenses claimed by sole traders.

Expenses outside this exception have their own record-keeping rules. If your total claim is over $300, you need written evidence for all of it, not just the amount over $300.

Claiming Car Expenses Without Keeping Every Receipt

When it comes to work-related travel, the thought of hoarding a receipt for every single litre of petrol or every kilometre driven can feel overwhelming. Nobody wants that shoebox full of crumpled paper.

Thankfully, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) gets it. They've set up a couple of ways to claim car expenses that don't demand such intense paperwork. These methods are designed to make life easier while still making sure your claims are fair and legitimate.

The two main paths you can take are the cents per kilometre method and the logbook method. Which one is right for you really depends on how often you're using your personal car for work.

The Cents Per Kilometre Method Explained

Think of this as the simple option. You claim a set rate for every work kilometre: 88 cents for 2024–25 and 2025–26, and 91 cents for 2026–27. You can claim up to 5,000 kilometres per car, per year.

This method is perfect if you only use your car for work occasionally—maybe for driving to client meetings, visiting different work sites, or running a work-related errand. Its biggest selling point is simplicity. You can forget about keeping receipts for fuel, oil changes, insurance, or rego.

All you need is a way to show the ATO how you worked out your kilometres. A simple diary or note of your trips is usually enough.

The key takeaway here is that every claim—receipt or not—has to be a genuine work expense that you actually paid for and falls within the ATO's limits.

When the Logbook Method Is Better

So, what happens if you're on the road constantly and clock up well over 5,000 work kilometres a year? The cents per kilometre method will hit its ceiling pretty fast, meaning you could be missing out on a much bigger deduction.

This is where the logbook method steps in. It does require a bit more effort upfront, but for people who drive a lot for work, it almost always leads to a significantly larger claim.

To use this method, you need to keep a detailed logbook for a continuous 12-week period. This snapshot of your driving habits is then used to calculate your car's business-use percentage.

The real power of the logbook is its longevity. Once you've done that initial 12-week stint, you can use that business-use percentage to calculate your claims for up to five years, as long as your driving patterns don't drastically change.

You then apply this percentage to your actual car running costs: fuel, maintenance, insurance, depreciation and so on. You need written evidence for these costs, although fuel and oil can be worked out from odometer records. See our guide to work-related car expenses and our free logbook template.

Travel and Meal Allowances

The ATO also has rules for travel allowances that cut down on receipt-keeping. If your employer pays you a travel allowance and your claim for accommodation, food and incidentals is within the ATO's 'reasonable amounts', you generally don't need receipts for domestic travel. You still need to show the travel was for work. For overseas travel, you always need written evidence for accommodation, and a travel diary for trips of 6 or more nights in a row. See also our guide to the living away from home allowance.

But be careful. These "reasonable amounts" are very specific and change based on your salary, where you're travelling, and for how long. If you try to claim more than the reasonable amount, the ATO will want to see written evidence for your entire claim, not just the part that's over the limit. It pays to know what these thresholds are before you travel.

Overtime meals: if you get an overtime meal allowance under an award or industrial agreement, you don't need receipts for meals up to the reasonable amount: $38.65 per meal for 2025–26 and $40 for 2026–27. You still need to show you bought the meal.

Working from home: the fixed rate method

The fixed rate method lets you claim 70 cents per hour worked from home for 2024–25 and 2025–26. It covers energy, internet, phone and stationery, so you can't claim those separately.

You need a record of the actual hours you worked from home for the whole year, such as timesheets or a diary kept at the time. Estimates aren't accepted. You also need at least one bill or receipt for each type of expense the rate covers. See our working from home guide.

Using Bank Statements as Valid Proof of Purchase

We’ve all had that sinking feeling. You’ve lost a receipt for a decent-sized work expense, and you can almost hear the deduction disappearing. Before you give up, pull up your bank or credit card statements. In the eyes of the ATO, these financial records are often your next best thing.

A bank statement shows the date, the amount and who you paid. On its own, though, the ATO says it isn't written evidence, because it isn't from the supplier and doesn't say what you bought. It works best for small claims under the $300 rule, or alongside other documents.

But hold on—a line on a bank statement is only one piece of the puzzle. By itself, it doesn't tell the whole story. A transaction entry for "Officeworks $150" doesn't explain what you bought or why it was essential for your job. To make it a rock-solid piece of evidence, you need to add some context.

How to Annotate Your Statements for the ATO

Think of your bank statement as the foundation of a house. Your own notes are the walls that complete the structure and make it useful. Without them, the ATO is left guessing. To turn a simple transaction line into compelling proof, you have to add the details that answer the questions an auditor would ask.

Your notes should clearly explain:

• What you bought: Be specific. Instead of "office supplies," write "HP printer ink cartridges and 2 reams of A4 paper."
• Who the supplier was: The statement usually shows this, but it’s good practice to clarify if the trading name is a bit obscure or different from the shopfront name.
• The nature of the expense: State its purpose directly. For example, "For printing client reports from my home office."
• How it connects to your work: This is the most crucial part. You must explicitly link the purchase to earning your income.

The goal is to paint a complete picture for the ATO. Your annotations should leave no doubt that the expense was legitimate, directly related to your work, and that you were the one who paid for it.

The Limitations of Bank Statements

While they are incredibly helpful, bank statements aren't a silver bullet for every lost receipt. It's important to understand their limits and know where they fall short.

The most obvious blind spot is cash purchases. If you paid with cash and lost the receipt, your bank statement won't show the transaction at all. You’re left with no financial trail to follow, which is exactly why keeping a diary is so vital for those small, under-$10 cash expenses.

Vague transaction descriptions can also weaken your claim. A payment to "General Store" or a simple person-to-person transfer doesn't offer much clarity. In these situations, you’ll need to back up the statement with other forms of evidence, like an email confirmation or even a photo of the item, to build a stronger case.

How a Diary Can Substantiate Small Expenses

It's often the smallest expenses that are the hardest to track: parking meters, train fares or small stationery items. Individually they're tiny, but over a year they add up, and getting a receipt for every one isn't always practical.

This is where a simple diary becomes one of your most powerful tax tools. The ATO understands that it’s not always possible to get a receipt for minor cash transactions. They allow you to use a diary or a similar record for small work-related expenses that are $10 or less each, as long as the total of these specific claims doesn’t go over $200 for the financial year.

This rule is tailor-made for those frequent, low-value cash outlays. Your diary essentially acts as a substitute receipt, so it needs to contain all the crucial details the ATO would look for on an actual docket to prove the expense is legitimate.

Crafting the Perfect Diary Entry

A valid diary entry is much more than a quick scribble in a notebook. To be compliant, it has to be detailed and, crucially, created at or very near the time you spent the money—not months later when you’re scrambling to do your tax.

For each entry to count, it must clearly state:

• The date the expense happened.
• The supplier or business name (for example, "City Council Parking").
• The exact cost of the item or service.
• What you bought and how it connects to your work (for example, "Parking for client meeting at Collins St").
• The date you made the record.

Consistency is your best friend here. If an auditor sees entries made regularly throughout the year, it paints a credible picture of your spending habits and gives your claim real strength.

A well-kept diary transforms vague memories into concrete evidence. It shows diligence and proves you are actively tracking your expenses, which is exactly what the ATO wants to see for any claim made without a standard receipt.

Real-World Diary Examples

Let's see what this looks like in practice. Imagine you're a sales rep who is constantly out of the office meeting clients. Your expense diary for one week might look something like this:

Sample Diary Entries

• 22 Oct: City Council Parking, parking meter, $7.00. Site visit at CBD project.
• 24 Oct: Metro Trains, train ticket, $4.80. Travel to industry seminar.
• 25 Oct: Corner Newsagency, printer paper, $8.50. Printing client reports. (Each entry recorded on the day.)

This level of detail leaves no room for doubt. It clearly outlines each small expense and its direct link to earning your income, making it a rock-solid way to substantiate those everyday costs you can’t get receipts for.

What changes from 2026–27

From 1 July 2026, the $300 work expenses exception, the $150 laundry exception and the award transport exception no longer apply. This affects everyone, whether or not you use the new standard deduction.

In their place, eligible employees get a standard deduction of up to $1,000 for work-related expenses, with no need to keep records. It became law in June 2026 and first applies in 2026–27 tax returns. It doesn't apply to 2025–26 returns.

• You're eligible if you're an Australian resident for tax purposes and earn labour income, such as salary or wages.
• It's capped at your labour income, so if you earned less than $1,000, that's your maximum.
• Any work-related expenses you claim, such as car, laundry, working from home or stationery, reduce it dollar for dollar.
• If your work expenses are more than $1,000, you can claim them instead, but you need written evidence for all of them.
• Union fees, professional memberships, donations and tax agent fees are claimed on top of it, with records.

Laundry can still be worked out at $1 a load (50c for mixed loads), but from 2026–27 you need a record of the number of loads and evidence you paid the costs. See the ATO's standard deduction page.

Building a Proactive Record-Keeping System

The best way to handle the stress of a missing receipt is to build a system that prevents it from becoming a problem in the first place.

When you shift from a reactive mindset ("Where did that receipt go?") to a proactive one, tax time stops being a frantic scramble and turns into a simple, organised process. Good record-keeping isn't just about ticking compliance boxes; it's about having total clarity over your finances.

A solid system gives you the confidence to claim every single dollar you're entitled to. This all starts with embracing a few modern tools and simple, consistent habits. Instead of letting receipts pile up in a shoebox, you can lock them in digitally the moment you get them.

Go Digital with Your Receipts

The easiest first step is your smartphone. Photograph receipts as you get them, or use the free myDeductions tool in the ATO app. The ATO accepts photos and digital copies, as long as they are a true and clear copy of the original.

The key benefits of using receipt-scanning apps are pretty clear:

• Instant Backup: You’ll never have to worry about losing a paper receipt or watching the ink fade to nothing.
• Easy Categorisation: Tag expenses on the fly as travel, supplies, or meals right when you make the purchase.
• Simple Reporting: When tax time rolls around, generating expense reports is almost effortless.

This digital-first approach is one of the most effective ways of record-keeping available today, and it will save you countless hours of manual sorting down the line.

A proactive system isn't about giving yourself more work; it's about working smarter. A few seconds spent digitising a receipt today saves hours of hunting for it months from now.

Create a Dedicated Financial Workflow

For businesses or anyone with significant work-related expenses, separating your finances is an absolute game-changer.

Go and open a dedicated bank account or credit card used only for work-related purchases. This simple move creates a clean, automatic record of all your business spending, making it incredibly easy to review transactions without mixing them up with personal coffees or groceries.

But don't toss out your physical records entirely. It's still wise to maintain a simple folder system, maybe with sections for different expense types or months. By combining a dedicated bank account, digital receipt capture, and a basic physical filing method, you create a powerful, multi-layered system that has your back.

This ensures that when tax time arrives, you have all the information you need, right at your fingertips. No stress, no searching.

Not sure what you can claim, or whether your records will hold up? With our individual tax return service, a registered tax agent checks every deduction you're entitled to before we lodge, at our Chippendale office or by phone and video from anywhere in Australia.