Tax Deductions for Hairdressers & Beauty Therapists Australia 2026-27: What You Can Claim

Hairdressers and beauty therapists are unusual among Australian workers: the tools of the trade are in their hands all day, they often buy those tools themselves, and the line between work and personal spending runs straight through their own appearance. That combination makes this occupation one of the easiest to get wrong at tax time. Claim your own haircut or your own facial and the ATO will disallow it, however polished your salon expects you to look. Miss the scissors, the sharpening, the drive between two salons and the laundry, and you leave hundreds of dollars unclaimed. The ATO publishes a dedicated guide for hairdressers and beauty professionals, and this article turns it into a practical, dollar-by-dollar checklist for 2026-27.

The headline change this year is the new $1,000 standard deduction, which from 1 July 2026 replaces the old $300 and $150 no-receipt exceptions. It changes the maths for everyone in this occupation, but it does not change it the same way for everyone: a full-time senior hairdresser who travels between salons should still itemise, while a part-time beauty therapist with modest expenses is better off taking the standard $1,000. Both cases are worked below, in dollars.

Quick answer: In 2026-27, hairdressers and beauty therapists can claim tools and equipment they buy themselves (scissors, clippers, dryers, lash and nail kits), repairs and sharpening, products they buy and use on clients, a compulsory logo uniform and its laundry, protective clothing, car travel between salons or between two jobs at 91c per km, the work portion of a phone, self-education for their current role, overtime meals against a genuine allowance, and union or professional association fees. They cannot claim their own grooming, plain black clothing, home-to-work travel, or anything the salon supplies or reimburses. The new $1,000 standard deduction is available too, but union fees sit on top of it, and for a full-time hairdresser itemising still wins by $593.60.

The three tests every claim must pass

A work-related expense is deductible only if you meet all three conditions:

1. You spent the money yourself and were not reimbursed by your employer.
2. It directly relates to earning your income in your current role.
3. You have a record to prove it. Receipts, invoices, a diary of kilometres or laundry loads.

Keep records for five years from the date you lodge. The ATO app’s myDeductions tool is the simplest way to capture receipts as you go. One 2026-27 change to note: if you itemise more than $1,000 of work expenses, you need written evidence for all of them, not just the amount above $1,000. If you take the standard deduction instead, no receipts are needed for the covered expenses.

Key rates and thresholds for hairdressers and beauty therapists in 2026-27

Item	2026-27 figure	What it means
Car — cents per kilometre	91c per km, max 5,000 km	Maximum claim $4,550. You must show your kilometre calculation.
Uniform laundry	$1 per work-only load, 50c per mixed load	Two work-only loads a week over 48 weeks is $96.
Tools — immediate deduction	$300 or less	Items $300 or less, mainly for work, can be claimed in full — unless part of a set over $300 (see below).
Standard deduction (new)	$1,000	Automatic from 1 July 2026. Covered expenses shrink it $1-for-$1; union and professional association fees sit on top.
Overtime meal — reasonable amount	$40 (TD 2026/4)	A substantiation benchmark, not an automatic $40. You claim what you actually spent.
Marginal tax rate (most full-time hairdressers)	30% + 2% Medicare levy	Applies from $45,001 to $135,000 in 2026-27. Every deduction dollar saves 32c.

What hairdressers and beauty therapists can claim in 2026-27

1. Tools and equipment — and the set trap

This is the biggest category for most salon workers, and the one with the most expensive trap in it. You can claim tools and equipment you buy yourself to do your job: scissors and shears, electric clippers and trimmers, combs, brushes and sectioning clips, hairdryers, straighteners and curling tools, razors, and for beauty therapists, lash and nail kits, wax pots, facial tools and applicators. You can also claim repairs, including scissor sharpening, and insurance on your work equipment.

The $300 rule works like this: an item costing $300 or less that you use mainly for work can be claimed in full in the year you buy it. An item costing more than $300 must be depreciated over its effective life — you claim a slice each year, not the whole price at once, and only for the part of the year you owned it.

Here is the trap. The $300 test applies to a set as well as to a single item. Buy three pairs of scissors at $180 each as a set, and you have spent $540 on one set — you must depreciate the set, even though every individual pair is under $300. The same applies to identical or substantially identical items bought together whose combined cost tops $300. If you buy the three pairs separately, at different times and for different purposes, the position is different, but a single set purchase is not three $180 immediate deductions. Keep the invoice and check whether it describes a set before you claim.

One more distinction that matters: the $300 immediate-deduction rule is not the old $300 substantiation exception. The substantiation exception is gone from 2026-27, replaced by the $1,000 standard deduction. The $300 tool rule survives — it is about depreciation, not about receipts.

2. Products and consumables — clients versus yourself

Products follow a single question: whose head, face or nails did they go on? Colour, bleach, toners, foils, shampoo and styling products, lashes, wax, nail products, gloves and applicators that you buy yourself and use on clients are deductible, because they are consumed in earning your income. The same products used on yourself are private, full stop. A beauty therapist who does her own lashes, a hairdresser who colours her own hair, a makeup artist who buys foundation for her own face — none of it is deductible, even if the salon requires a polished appearance and even if the product is the professional brand you use at work.

The second half of the test is supply. If the salon supplies the colour, the wax or the foils, you spent nothing and there is nothing to claim. If the salon reimburses you, the reimbursement is not income and the expense is not deductible. Only products you paid for, were not reimbursed for, and used on clients count. If a product is used partly on clients and partly on yourself, apportion it and claim only the work portion, with a note showing how you worked the percentage out.

3. Uniforms, protective clothing and laundry

A compulsory uniform — one your employer requires you to wear and that identifies the business, usually with a logo — is deductible, as is a non-compulsory uniform whose design is registered with AusIndustry. Protective clothing is deductible on a different basis: it protects you or your clothes. Aprons and smocks, gloves, masks, and non-slip safety shoes your employer mandates as a safety measure all qualify.

What does not qualify is conventional clothing, however strict the dress code. Plain black pants, a plain black top and plain black shoes, even if your salon insists on them and you would never wear them outside work, are not deductible. This is the mirror image of the retail rule and it catches just as many people: the logo or the protective function is the whole test.

Laundry follows the uniform itself: if the clothing is deductible, washing it is too, at $1 per load of work clothes only, or 50c per load mixed with personal items. Two work-only loads a week across 48 working weeks is $96 — small, but the most commonly forgotten salon claim.

4. Car and travel — between salons, not to the salon

You cannot claim the normal trip between home and your regular salon — it is private, even if you live a long way away, work late nights or start at 7am. You can claim travel:

• directly between two salons for the same employer on the same day;
• directly between two separate jobs on the same day (for example, from your salon job to an evening job elsewhere) — but not if one of the places is your home;
• from your salon to pick up supplies, attend a supplier meeting, or go to a training session;
• parking fees and tolls on those work-related trips (parking at your regular salon is never deductible).

For 2026-27 the cents-per-kilometre rate is 91c per km, capped at 5,000 work-related kilometres per car — a maximum claim of $4,550. You do not need receipts for the cents-per-kilometre method, but you must be able to show how you worked out the kilometres: a diary, or the myDeductions tool.

Mobile hairdressers and beauty therapists need extra care here. Driving between clients during the day is work travel and is deductible. Driving from home to your first client of the day is generally still private travel, unless you meet the bulky-equipment test in full: the equipment must be essential to your work, it must be bulky (so awkward to transport that it can only conveniently go by car), and there must be no secure storage for it at your workplace. A standard tool roll and a bag of products that could sit in a salon drawer or a locked cupboard does not pass that test. If you genuinely have no regular workplace and no storage anywhere, keep a written note of why — the ATO will ask.

5. Phone, self-education and professional fees

You can claim the work-related portion of your phone: booking apps, calls to clients about appointments, messages to suppliers, roster checks. Keep a four-week usage diary to support your work percentage and apply it to the annual bill. If your employer provides the phone or reimburses the cost, there is nothing to claim.

Self-education is deductible where it maintains or improves the skills you need for your current role: an advanced colouring or balayage course for a hairdresser, lash extension or skin treatment training for a beauty therapist, a beauty expo or product workshop, and the travel to get there. Two limits apply. A course that qualifies you for a new job — a hairdresser retraining as a makeup artist is the ATO’s own example — is not deductible, and HECS-HELP fees and study loan repayments are never deductible, even for a course that is.

Union fees and memberships of a trade, business or professional association are fully deductible, and they carry a special bonus this year: unlike most work expenses, they sit on top of the $1,000 standard deduction rather than shrinking it. Add them in either way, whether you itemise or take the standard deduction.

6. Overtime meals and allowances

Overtime meals are deductible only where you receive an overtime meal allowance under an award or agreement, the allowance is included in your assessable income, and you actually bought and ate a meal during the overtime. An ordinary meal during a normal shift is never deductible, allowance or not. The ATO’s reasonable amount for 2026-27 is $40 (TD 2026/4), but that figure is a substantiation benchmark, not an automatic deduction: if you spent $28, you claim $28, and if you spent $45 you claim $45 with a receipt. Do not claim $40 for a meal you never bought.

Watch allowances generally. An allowance your employer pays that you do not actually spend on a deductible cost is simply income — it funds no deduction. And any allowance shown on your income statement must be declared as income in the first place.

7. Income you must declare: tips, commissions and bonuses

Deductions are only half the return. As a hairdresser or beauty professional you must declare salary and wages, cash and card tips, product-sale commissions, bonuses, and every allowance on your income statement. Cash tips are assessable income even though no one reports them for you, and they are the classic audit finding in this occupation: the ATO compares reported tips with card-tip patterns and with salon records. Declare them as you go — a weekly note of cash tips takes a minute and removes the risk entirely. Reimbursements are the one exception: money your employer pays back for an expense you incurred is not income, and the expense is not deductible either.

8. The rent-a-chair boundary

If you rent a chair in a salon, set your own prices and hours, and take your own clients, you are probably not an employee at all — you are running a business as a contractor or sole trader. That changes everything in this guide. The $1,000 standard deduction is for employees only, so it does not apply to you; instead you claim your business expenses (chair rent, products, insurance, advertising) against your business income, and you need to check whether your turnover crosses the $75,000 GST registration threshold. If you are unsure which side of the line you fall on, the ATO’s employee-versus-contractor tool is worth running before you lodge, because claiming employee deductions as a contractor, or vice versa, is an expensive mistake to unwind.

Worked example: what a full-time hairdresser actually claims

Mia is a senior hairdresser at a Melbourne salon group earning $68,000 in 2026-27. She works across two salons for the same employer and buys her own cutting tools:

Expense	Amount	How it is worked out
Scissors, clippers, combs and brushes	$610	$280 + $240 + $90, each $300 or less, not a set
Sharpening and repairs	$180	Scissor sharpening across the year
Uniform laundry	$96	2 work-only loads a week × 48 weeks × $1
Phone — work portion	$300	25% of $1,200 annual bill, 4-week diary
Advanced colour course	$850	Current-role upskilling, paid by Mia
Car travel between salons	$819	900 km × 91c
Total itemised work expenses	$2,855

Mia’s marginal rate at $68,000 is 30%, plus the 2% Medicare levy — so every deduction dollar saves her 32 cents.

Compare that with the new $1,000 standard deduction. It covers Mia’s work expenses up to $1,000, but her professional association fees of $180 sit on top of it — they are not reduced by the standard deduction. So the standard route gives Mia $1,180 in total deductions, while itemising gives her $2,855 plus $180, or $3,035. Itemising wins by $1,855 in deductions, or $593.60 in tax. The lesson is the same as for every travelling salon worker: add up your kilometres and your course fees first, because they alone usually push you well past $1,000.

The standard deduction wins for the opposite profile. Sara is a part-time beauty therapist earning $38,000, working one salon, with covered expenses of about $720 (tools $280, laundry $48, phone $192, travel $200). Her marginal rate is 15% plus the 2% Medicare levy, or 17c per deduction dollar. Taking the standard $1,000 instead of itemising $720 gives her an extra $280 in deductions, worth $47.60 — with no receipts to keep for the covered expenses. The quick decision rule: total your covered expenses, add your union or association fees on top, and compare the result with $1,000 plus those fees. See our $1,000 standard deduction guide, and use our income tax calculator to see exactly how deductions change your tax.

What hairdressers and beauty therapists can never claim

• Your own grooming: haircuts, colour, makeup, skincare, facials, manicures and nails for yourself, even if a polished appearance is a job requirement.
• Plain clothing: black pants, plain tops and plain shoes without a logo, even if your salon mandates the colour.
• Normal home-to-work travel and parking at your regular salon.
• Ordinary meals, snacks and drinks during a normal shift.
• Tools, products or a phone your employer supplies or reimburses.
• Your first qualification and any HECS-HELP fees or loan repayments.
• A course for a different career, such as a hairdresser retraining as a makeup artist.
• Fines — parking or speeding — are never deductible, for anyone.

Common mistakes hairdressers and beauty therapists make at tax time

1. Claiming your own treatments. Products on clients are deductible; the same products on yourself are private. This is the single most disallowed salon claim.
2. Claiming a tool set as separate items. Three $180 scissors bought as a $540 set must be depreciated, not claimed immediately.
3. Claiming the drive to your own salon. Only travel between salons, between jobs, or to training and supply runs counts — and a tool roll does not pass the bulky-equipment test.
4. Claiming the standard $1,000 deduction and itemising the same expenses. Covered expenses shrink the standard deduction dollar for dollar — but union and association fees sit on top, so add those in either way.
5. Using last year’s rates. Several 2026 guides still quote 88c per kilometre and the old $300/$150 no-receipt exceptions. For 2026-27 it is 91c, and itemising above $1,000 needs written evidence.
6. Forgetting cash tips on the income side. Tips are assessable income, and undeclared cash tips are a classic audit finding for this occupation.
7. Claiming salon-supplied products. If the salon bought the colour or the wax, you spent nothing and there is nothing to claim.

Tips for a bigger, safer refund

• Photograph every receipt the day you pay using the ATO app’s myDeductions tool, and keep a one-line weekly log: kilometres between salons, uniform loads washed, phone work percentage. Five minutes a week makes your whole claim defensible.
• Separate client products from personal products at the till. Buy them on separate receipts where you can — it makes the apportionment argument disappear.
• Compare before you lodge. Total your covered work expenses, add your union or association fees on top, and compare with the $1,000 standard deduction plus those fees. See our cleaners deductions guide, our retail workers deductions guide, our car expenses guide and our self-education guide for the detail behind each category.

Frequently asked questions

Can hairdressers claim scissors as a tax deduction?

Yes, if you bought them yourself, use them mainly for work, and were not reimbursed. Scissors costing $300 or less can be claimed in full in the year you buy them — unless they are part of a set costing more than $300 in total, in which case the set must be depreciated. Sharpening and repairs are deductible too.

Can I claim my own haircut or beauty treatments?

No. Grooming for yourself is a private expense, even if your salon expects you to look polished. The deductible side is products and tools you buy and use on clients, not on yourself.

Can I claim driving between two salons?

Yes, if both shifts are on the same day — at 91c per km for 2026-27, up to 5,000 km. The same applies to travel directly between two separate jobs on the same day. Travel from home to your regular salon is never deductible, and a mobile kit only changes that if it passes the full bulky-equipment test.

Can beauty therapists claim lash, wax and nail products?

Yes, where you bought them yourself, were not reimbursed, and used them on clients. Products the salon supplies are not claimable, and products used on yourself are private even if they are professional products.

Is the $1,000 standard deduction better than itemising for hairdressers?

Usually not for full-time workers who travel between salons or pay for courses. In the worked example above itemising saves $593.60 more in tax, even after counting that association fees sit on top of the $1,000. The standard deduction suits workers whose real covered expenses are under $1,000, such as part-timers working a single salon.

Does rent-a-chair mean I am not an employee?

Often, yes. If you rent a chair, set your own prices and hours, and take your own clients, you are likely running a business, not working as an employee — so the $1,000 standard deduction does not apply and you claim business expenses instead. Check your status before you lodge.