The short answer
For FY2025–26, most FIFO (fly-in fly-out) workers cannot deduct the cost of getting to site, and most are no longer eligible for the Zone Tax Offset — the two most misunderstood points in a FIFO tax return. The ATO treats travel between your home and a regular workplace as private travel, and that rule extends to the trip to your local airport or muster point and, in most cases, to the flight or drive itself where you pay for it. Separately, since 1 July 2015, section 79A of the *Income Tax Assessment Act 1936* excludes fly-in fly-out and drive-in drive-out employees from the zone tax offset unless their normal home is itself located within a zone — spending 183 days a year on site is not enough on its own. What you generally can claim, if self-funded and not reimbursed, includes protective equipment and clothing, laundering of that gear, excess baggage tied to compulsory bulky tools, renewal of mandatory site tickets and licences, and the work-related portion of phone and data use.
Why most FIFO travel isn't deductible
Under long-standing ATO guidance (Taxation Ruling TR 2021/1 on employee transport expenses), travelling between your home and a regular workplace is private in nature and not deductible, regardless of distance or how the trip is arranged. For a FIFO roster, the ATO applies the same logic to the leg between home and the airport or bus muster point, and to the flight or drive to site where you pay for it yourself. This surprises many workers because it feels like "travel for work" — but the deciding factor is that the site is your regular workplace under your roster, not a one-off or itinerant location, so getting there is treated like any ordinary commute.
There are narrow exceptions. Where your employer requires you to carry bulky tools or safety equipment that cannot reasonably be left at the site or stored securely there, the cost of transporting it — including an excess baggage fee tied specifically to it — may be deductible. A genuinely itinerant work pattern rarely describes a standard FIFO swing built around one rostered site. Most FIFO charter flights and rostered ground transport are arranged and paid for directly by the employer anyway, so the deductibility question usually only arises for the connecting travel — the drive to the airport, parking, or an unreimbursed taxi — and that portion remains private.
Table 1: FIFO travel legs — deductible or not
| Travel leg | Typically paid by | Deductible if you pay yourself? |
|---|---|---|
| Home to local airport or muster point | Employee (own car, taxi, parking) | Not deductible — private home-to-work travel |
| Charter or commercial flight to site | Employer (arranged or reimbursed) | Not applicable; if unreimbursed, still treated as private travel |
| Muster point to site (employer bus/transport) | Employer | Not applicable — employer cost |
| Excess baggage for compulsory bulky tools/equipment that can't be stored on site | Employee, if self-funded | May be deductible — linked to transporting deductible equipment |
| Excess baggage for personal luggage or clothing for your swing | Employee | Not deductible — private |
| Connecting travel between two employer-directed sites within the same swing | Employee, if self-funded | May be deductible in limited, itinerant-work scenarios — check your roster pattern |
Zone Tax Offset and FIFO: the 2015 change most workers don't know about
The Zone Tax Offset (ZTO) is a long-standing offset for people whose normal residence is in a remote or isolated part of Australia — Zone A, Zone B, or a "Special Area" within either — for more than 183 days in an income year (days don't need to be continuous). It exists to offset the higher cost of living and isolation of actually residing in these areas.
Since 1 July 2015, a Budget integrity measure added a specific exclusion: FIFO and drive-in drive-out (DIDO) workers are not eligible for the zone offset if their normal residence is not itself within a zone — even if their worksite is in Zone A or B and they spend well over 183 days a year physically on site. This closed a mismatch the ATO identified between the offset's purpose (compensating people who actually live remotely) and workers who fly home to a capital city between swings, and it's why many long-serving FIFO workers who claimed the ZTO before 2015 no longer qualify.
The exclusion turns on where your normal residence is, not where you work. If your normal home is itself inside a zone — for example, you live in a Pilbara or Kalgoorlie zone town and fly out to a more remote site from there — the FIFO exclusion doesn't apply, because your usual residence already satisfies the zone test independently of your roster.
Table 2: Zone Tax Offset eligibility for FIFO/DIDO workers
| Situation | ZTO generally available? |
|---|---|
| Normal home in Perth, Brisbane, or Adelaide; FIFO/DIDO to a Zone A or B mine site | No — excluded since 1 July 2015 regardless of days on site |
| Normal home is itself in a zone town (e.g., Karratha, Kalgoorlie); commute or fly to a further site | Potentially yes — assessed on the zone status of your normal residence |
| Non-FIFO resident who lives and works full-time in a Zone A or B location | Yes, if the 183-day residency test is met |
| DIDO worker driving from a capital city to a remote site on roster | No — the same FIFO/DIDO exclusion applies to drive-in drive-out arrangements |
Accommodation and meals while on site
Most FIFO camps and villages provide accommodation and meals directly, usually treated as an exempt benefit rather than assessable income, so there's nothing to claim. If your employer instead pays a cash allowance, check your income statement — allowances are commonly assessable income, and a matching deduction is only available where you actually incur and can substantiate a deductible expense; receiving an allowance doesn't automatically create one. Where a FIFO worker genuinely self-funds overnight travel costs connected to work (an unavoidable hotel stay tied to an early employer-directed departure, for example), that may be deductible as a travel expense if you retain your normal residence and the trip meets the ATO's travel conditions — but if you're away overnight for six or more consecutive nights, the ATO requires a travel diary recording dates, locations, times, and the nature of each work activity.
Excess baggage: when it is (and isn't) deductible
This is one of the more specific FIFO questions, and the answer depends entirely on what's in the bag. Excess baggage fees connected to bulky tools or safety equipment your employer requires you to bring, which cannot reasonably be left securely at the site, sit within the same bulky-equipment exception described above and may be deductible. Excess baggage for ordinary personal items — clothes, toiletries, entertainment gear for your swing — is private in nature, the same as packing for a holiday, and is not deductible even though the trip itself is for work. Keep the excess baggage receipt separate from your general fare, and be ready to explain what the extra weight was for.
Protective equipment, clothing, and laundry
Protective and safety items you buy yourself and use for site work are generally deductible if your employer doesn't provide or reimburse them: steel-capped boots, high-visibility shirts and vests, hard hats, safety glasses, gloves, wet-weather gear, and sunscreen or sunglasses where your role involves real outdoor exposure. Laundering that gear can be claimed using a reasonable estimate (commonly around $1 per load for work-only loads, $0.50 for mixed loads) without written evidence, as long as your laundry claim is $150 or less — this concession applies regardless of your other work-related expense total. Above $150, you'll need receipts or diary evidence, particularly once your combined work-related expense claim for the year passes $300. Plain clothing without protective features or a company logo, even if it's what you wear on site, is conventional clothing and isn't deductible.
Tools, tickets, licences, and other common FIFO claims
A few other categories come up often on FIFO returns. Hand tools required for your role are deductible outright if they cost $300 or less, or depreciated above that. Renewing a ticket or licence you need to keep doing your FIFO job — working at heights, confined space entry, forklift or EWP tickets, or a Coal Board Medical renewal — is deductible; the first ticket you obtain to get the job initially generally isn't, since it's incurred before you start earning income in the role. The work-related portion of your phone and data plan can be apportioned and claimed, and so can union dues and relevant professional association fees.
Records to keep
- Receipts or tax invoices for PPE, tools, tickets, and licence renewals
- Excess baggage receipts, annotated with what was being transported
- A travel diary for any self-funded overnight work travel of six or more consecutive nights
- Your roster or swing schedule, showing the pattern and dates spent on site
- Evidence of your normal residence address for the full income year, for zone offset assessment
- Payment summaries or income statements showing any allowances paid separately from salary
- A simple laundry log (dates, number of loads, work-only vs mixed) if claiming under the $150 concession
Quick checklist
- Confirm whether your normal residence is inside a zone before assuming zone offset eligibility
- Don't claim home-to-airport or home-to-site travel unless the bulky-equipment exception genuinely applies
- Separate excess baggage fees for required equipment from fees for personal luggage
- Keep evidence for any allowance received and any expense claimed against it
- Check whether this year's ticket/licence expense is a renewal, not an initial acquisition
- Start a travel diary if any work trip involves six or more consecutive nights away paid by you
Sorting out which parts of a FIFO roster are actually deductible — and whether the zone offset still applies to your situation post-2015 — is easy to get wrong even with good intentions. AusTax AI's AI review works through each receipt you upload against current ATO guidance and flags what category it may fall into, and where your situation is more complex, such as a disputed zone question or allowances mixed with reimbursements, a TPB-registered tax agent can take on the return and lodge later than the standard 31 October deadline.
Zone tax offset: Working in a remote zone does not by itself qualify you — eligibility turns on where your *usual place of residence* is, which is why most FIFO workers miss out. Full breakdown of the amounts and the 183-day test: Zone Tax Offset Australia.
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*Disclaimer: This is general information only and does not constitute personal tax advice. Consult a registered tax agent for advice tailored to your specific situation. Always verify against the latest ATO guidelines at ato.gov.au.*
*Disclaimer: general information only — not personal tax advice. Confirm your individual eligibility with a registered tax agent or the ATO.*