Claiming Your Phone as a Tax Deduction: What You Need to Know

By Anna Chisholm

ABC Lifestyle

Topic: Tax

Tuesday, 7 July 2026, at 4:30 am

You may be able to claim a tax deduction for your phone.

Many people use their phones for work, making calls and reading emails.

You might wonder if you can claim your phone as a tax deduction.

The Australian Taxation Office has rules for claiming phone expenses.

Here's what you need to know about claiming phones and phone bills as a tax deduction.

When can you claim your phone on your tax return in Australia?

To claim a phone deduction, you must have paid for it and used it for work.

How this works depends on the phone's cost.

If the phone costs $300 or less, you can claim it immediately if you use it more than 50% for work.

An immediate deduction means you can claim the full work-related cost the year you buy it.

Susan Franks says you must have paid for the device yourself to make a claim.

If a phone costs more than $300, you can claim a deduction for its decline in value over time.

Most people will claim depreciation on their phone in their tax return.

If you work from home and use the 70-cents-per-hour method, you can't claim your phone usage separately.

What does 'depreciation' mean, and how can you calculate it?

Donovan Castelyn says depreciation means claiming a part of the item's value over time.

There are two ways to calculate depreciation: diminishing value or prime cost.

Diminishing value gives a larger up-front deduction, while prime cost gives the same deduction each year.

The effective life of a mobile phone is three years, says Connie Vitale.

You can claim depreciation over three years, but only for the work-related portion.

The ATO says you can choose either depreciation method, but you can't change it later.

The depreciation and capital allowances tool can help you calculate depreciation.

What percentage of phone costs can you claim?

When a phone is used for both private and work purposes, you need to apportion your deduction.

You must work out what percentage of phone use is for work and claim that portion.

If you have an itemised bill, you can calculate your work-related percentage over a four-week period.

You can analyse calls, time spent on calls, and data used to calculate the percentage.

If you don't have an itemised bill, you can record your private and work calls and data use over four weeks.

You can also calculate your claim using a reasonable basis, such as the number of work calls.

Dr Vitale recommends keeping a logbook to record work-related phone use for four weeks.

If your phone use for work changes, redo the logbook to adjust the percentage you claim.

Can you claim phone bills too?

Dr Vitale says if you complete a four-week logbook, you can claim that percentage of your phone plan or bill.

Connie Vitale says there are rules to follow when claiming deductions.

The ATO says you must pay the bill yourself and use it for work purposes.

You need written evidence of expenses, including records of work-related calls and data.

If it's 40% business, you can claim 40% of the phone bill and depreciation.

You can claim 'incidental use' of $50 or less with basic records.

What records or evidence do you need to keep?

The ATO says you must keep records, including diary entries, mobile phone bills, and receipts.

Mr Castelyn says the more evidence you have, the better.

What if you're a sole trader?

Dr Vitale says a sole trader can claim an immediate deduction for a phone costing less than $20,000.

A sole trader can claim the cost of a new phone in the first year, but must calculate work-related use.

You still need to calculate the degree of work-related use and only claim that portion.

This is general information only; consider obtaining advice from a tax professional.

Tuesday, 7 July 2026, at 4:30 am

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