Quick answer: Can you claim travel between workplaces?
Potentially, yes. The ATO allows deductions for certain trips undertaken while performing your employment duties, including eligible travel between workplaces. The important distinction is between work-related travel and ordinary private commuting.
This is exactly where the distinction between commuting and work-related travel becomes important.
Travelling directly between two separate places of employment can be treated differently from driving from your home to work.
The basic rule: commuting vs work-related travel
Your normal journey from home to your regular place of work is generally considered private travel.
That means the fact that you need to travel in order to earn your income does not automatically make your commute deductible.
However, travel you undertake while performing your employment duties can potentially be deductible.
Which work trips may be deductible?
✓ Trips that may qualify
- Travelling from one workplace to another workplace.
- Travelling directly from one job to a second job.
- Travelling from your normal workplace to a client's premises.
- Travelling from your normal workplace to an alternative workplace.
- Travelling between different client locations while working.
- Certain travel involving shifting places of employment.
- Certain trips involving essential bulky tools or equipment.
✕ Trips generally private
- Home to your normal workplace.
- Your normal workplace back home.
- Home to a second regular job where home is one end of the trip.
- Travel made private merely because public transport is unavailable.
- Ordinary commuting simply because you work shifts.
- Ordinary commuting simply because you are on call.
Travel between two different jobs
Many Nepali workers in Australia have more than one job. For example, someone might work in aged care during the day and hospitality in the evening.
If you travel directly from one separate place of employment to another place of employment, the travel may be deductible, provided one of those places is not your home.
Sanjay finishes his shift at a warehouse at 4:00 pm. He drives directly from the warehouse to a restaurant where his second employment shift begins at 5:00 pm.
Because Sanjay travels directly between two separate places of employment, the trip may qualify as work-related travel.
Sanjay finishes his warehouse shift, drives home for several hours and later leaves home to travel to his restaurant job.
The trip from home to the restaurant is generally private home-to-work travel. Having two jobs does not automatically make every trip associated with both jobs deductible.
Travel between client locations
Workers such as disability support workers, community care workers, cleaners, technicians and other mobile employees may perform duties at multiple locations.
Travel undertaken from one client or work location to another while carrying out employment duties can potentially be work-related travel.
Maya works as a disability support worker. During her shift, she travels from Client A's home directly to Client B's home and later travels to Client C.
The travel between those client locations may be deductible because Maya is travelling between work locations while performing her employment duties.
Travel to an alternative workplace
You may also be able to claim certain travel from your normal workplace to an alternative workplace that is not your regular workplace.
Examples could include travelling to:
- a client's premises,
- a temporary work site,
- another office,
- a work meeting,
- a supplier,
- a training location where the travel itself qualifies, or
- another location where you are required to perform work duties.
Asha works at an accounting office. During the working day, her employer requires her to drive from the office to a client's business premises.
That trip is different from Asha's ordinary commute from home to the accounting office and may qualify as work-related travel.
Can you claim travel from home to an alternative workplace?
In some circumstances, travel from home to an alternative workplace can qualify.
The rules are more specific than simply saying, “I worked somewhere different today.”
For example, the ATO recognises certain situations where an employee travels from home to an alternative workplace to perform work activities and then travels to their normal workplace or directly home.
Does shift work make home-to-work travel deductible?
Generally, no.
Working early mornings, late nights or unusual shifts does not by itself convert normal home-to-work travel into deductible work travel.
The same general principle applies simply because public transport is unavailable.
Bikash works a night shift at a warehouse and finishes at 2:00 am. There is no convenient public transport at that time, so he drives his own car.
The inconvenience of the shift time does not, by itself, make his ordinary trip between home and his regular workplace deductible.
What about split shifts?
Split shifts can cause confusion because a worker may travel several times in one day.
The tax treatment depends on the nature of each individual trip.
Nisha drives from home to Client A in the morning. She then travels directly from Client A to Client B. After completing the morning work, she returns home.
Later she leaves home for another afternoon shift.
The travel between Client A and Client B may be work-related. The home-to-work and work-to-home portions should not automatically be included merely because Nisha works a split shift.
What are shifting places of employment?
The ATO recognises limited circumstances involving workers who have shifting places of employment.
This can apply where the nature of the employment means the worker regularly works at more than one site each day before returning home.
What if you carry bulky tools or equipment?
There are limited circumstances where travel between home and work can be deductible because an employee needs to transport bulky tools or equipment.
The equipment generally needs to be essential for your work, and the circumstances surrounding why it must be transported matter.
For example, whether secure storage is available at the workplace can be relevant.
What is the cents-per-kilometre rate for 2026–27?
From 1 July 2026, the cents-per-kilometre rate for eligible car-expense deductions is 91 cents per kilometre.
This rate applies to eligible taxpayers who choose the cents-per-kilometre method for qualifying work-related car expenses.
However, the rate does not turn private kilometres into deductible kilometres.
Example of calculating eligible workplace travel
Suppose a worker drives 12 eligible kilometres directly from Job A to Job B on 100 working days during the 2026–27 income year.
Eligible distance: 12 km × 100 days = 1,200 km
Using the 2026–27 cents-per-kilometre rate as an illustration: 1,200 km × $0.91 = $1,092
This example assumes the trips satisfy the deduction requirements and that the taxpayer is eligible to use the cents-per-kilometre method.
Cents per kilometre vs logbook method
If you use your own eligible car for deductible work travel, the appropriate car-expense calculation method also needs to be considered.
Cents per kilometre
Uses the applicable ATO rate for eligible work-related kilometres, subject to the rules and limits applying to this method.
Logbook method
Uses your work-related percentage and relevant actual car costs, with appropriate records and a valid logbook.
Records matter
Whichever method applies, you need records sufficient to support your calculation and work-related travel.
For a broader explanation of car-expense methods, see: Car Expenses Tax Deduction Australia: Cents per Kilometre vs Logbook Method .
Can you claim parking fees?
Parking follows the same important distinction between ordinary commuting and eligible work-related travel.
You generally cannot claim the cost of parking at or near your regular place of work.
However, parking fees incurred during an eligible work-related trip may be deductible.
Prakash drives from his regular office to a client's premises during work. He pays for parking near the client's office and his employer does not reimburse him.
If the underlying journey is work-related, the associated parking expense may also be deductible.
Can you claim road tolls?
Tolls incurred during eligible work-related travel may be deductible.
However, tolls incurred during your ordinary journey between home and your regular workplace are generally private.
Rajan uses a toll road each morning because it makes his ordinary commute to his regular workplace faster.
The toll does not become deductible simply because it saves travel time. The underlying trip remains ordinary home-to-work travel.
What if your employer reimburses your travel?
To claim a deduction, you generally need to have incurred the expense yourself and not been reimbursed for it.
Sabina uses her own car to travel between two client sites. Her employer reimburses her for the eligible travel expense.
Sabina should not simply claim the same reimbursed expense again as though she remained personally out of pocket.
What if you receive a car or travel allowance?
Receiving an allowance does not automatically mean you can claim the same amount as a deduction.
The allowance and the deduction are separate tax issues.
Any deduction still needs to satisfy the relevant rules and be based on your eligible work-related expense.
For more information, see: Work Allowances vs Reimbursements in Australia .
Examples for Nepali workers in Australia
Aged care and disability support workers
Travel directly between clients, facilities or other work locations while performing employment duties may potentially qualify. Ordinary home-to-work travel should be considered separately.
Cleaners
A cleaner who is required to move directly from one client site to another during their working duties may have eligible work-related travel.
See: Tax Deductions for Nepali Cleaning Workers in Australia .
Construction workers
Construction workers should be careful not to assume that travelling from home to a construction site is automatically deductible simply because the site changes.
The actual employment arrangement, travel pattern and any relevant exceptions need to be considered.
See: Tax Deductions for Nepali Construction Workers and Labourers .
Workers with two jobs
Direct travel from the workplace for Job A to the workplace for Job B can potentially qualify.
But travelling from Job A home and later leaving home for Job B is different because home is one end of the later trip.
See: Tax Return With Multiple Jobs in Australia .
Office and professional workers
Travel from a normal office to a client's premises, another office or an alternative work location while on duty can potentially qualify.
Does work-related travel have to be by car?
No. Work-related travel expenses can potentially involve other forms of transport where the relevant deduction requirements are satisfied.
Depending on the circumstances, this could include:
- public transport,
- taxi fares,
- rideshare fares,
- air travel, or
- other qualifying transport expenses.
Again, the important question is whether the underlying trip is genuinely work-related rather than ordinary private commuting.
What records should you keep?
Keeping clear travel records is especially important when you make both private and work-related trips.
- Dates of eligible work-related trips.
- Starting and destination locations.
- Reason for each work trip.
- Kilometres travelled.
- Work roster or calendar where relevant.
- Records showing shifts at two separate jobs.
- Client appointment or work-site records.
- Parking receipts.
- Toll statements.
- Employer reimbursement records.
- Car-expense calculations.
- A valid logbook and supporting records if using the logbook method.
Common travel deduction mistakes
- Claiming every kilometre driven to work. Ordinary home-to-work travel is generally private.
- Claiming home-to-work travel because you have two jobs. The direct trip between two separate workplaces can be different from a trip where home is one end.
- Assuming shift work changes the rule. Working nights or weekends does not automatically make your commute deductible.
- Claiming travel because there is no public transport. Lack of public transport does not, by itself, turn ordinary commuting into work-related travel.
- Claiming regular workplace parking. Parking at or near your regular place of work is generally private.
- Claiming commuting tolls. A toll road does not make an otherwise private home-to-work trip deductible.
- Claiming reimbursed expenses. You generally cannot claim an expense that your employer has reimbursed.
- Applying the 91-cent rate to every kilometre. Only eligible work-related kilometres should be considered under the method.
- Having no evidence of the work trip. Keep appropriate records supporting the kilometres and the work purpose.
Work travel deduction guide
| Trip | General treatment | Important point |
|---|---|---|
| Home → regular workplace | Generally private | Ordinary commuting is generally not deductible. |
| Regular workplace → home | Generally private | The return commute is generally treated the same way. |
| Job A workplace → Job B workplace | May be deductible | Direct travel between two separate places of employment can qualify where the requirements are met. |
| Workplace → client | May be deductible | Can qualify where the trip is undertaken in performing employment duties. |
| Client A → Client B | May be deductible | Relevant for workers required to move between work locations. |
| Home → Job B after returning home from Job A | Generally private | Home is one end of the later journey. |
| Parking at regular workplace | Generally private | Ordinary workplace parking is generally not deductible. |
| Parking during eligible client visit | May be deductible | The parking needs to relate to qualifying work travel. |
| Toll on normal commute | Generally private | Using a toll road does not change the character of the commute. |
| Toll during eligible work trip | May be deductible | The underlying trip needs to be work-related. |
Before claiming work-related travel
- Separate ordinary commuting from work travel.
- Identify each workplace and client location.
- Check whether you travelled directly between two jobs.
- Separate home-to-work kilometres.
- Identify any alternative workplace trips.
- Check whether your employer reimbursed you.
- Separate parking and toll expenses.
- Keep records of your work-related kilometres.
- Use the correct rate for the relevant income year.
- Consider whether cents per kilometre or the logbook method is appropriate.
- Keep evidence supporting the work purpose of the travel.
Related Hamro Accountant tax guides
Tax Return With Multiple Jobs in Australia
Work Allowances vs Reimbursements in Australia
Tax Deductions for Nepali Construction Workers and Labourers
Tax Deductions for Nepali Cleaning Workers
Work-Related Deductions Australia: What Can You Claim?
Frequently asked questions
Not sure which work trips you can claim?
Hamro Accountant can help you review work-related travel, car expenses, parking, tolls and other deductions when preparing your Australian tax return.
General information only: This article provides general Australian taxation information and does not constitute personal tax, financial or legal advice. Whether travel is deductible depends on the nature of the trip, your employment arrangements, whether the expense was incurred in earning assessable income, whether you were reimbursed and your individual circumstances. The 91 cents per kilometre figure referred to in this article applies to the 2026–27 income year for eligible taxpayers using the cents-per-kilometre method. Australian tax rules and ATO guidance can change. Check current ATO guidance and obtain advice appropriate to your circumstances before lodging your tax return.