Mobile Phone Tax Deductions in Australia: What You Can Claim for Work

Mobile phones have become an important part of daily life and are now essential tools for communicating by video, voice and text message in both personal and professional settings. With more Australians working from home.

Travelling between worksites or operating remotely, mobile phones have become even more important for staying connected and getting work done.

The good news is that if you use your mobile phone for work-related purposes, you may be able to claim part of the cost as a tax deduction in your Australian tax return. There are, however, specific conditions and record-keeping requirements you need to understand before making a claim.

Eligibility rules for claiming mobile phone expenses on tax

In a nutshell, to claim a deduction for your phone usage, you must:
  

• Have paid personally for the phone or service you’re claiming
• Ensure the expense is directly related to earning your income
• Have records, such as receipts or phone bills, to support your claim
• Not have claimed the ATO’s 70 cents per hour fixed rate for working from home expenses

You can only claim the work-related portion of your phone use, not private use.

Work-related mobile phone usage that may qualify for a tax deduction

You can use your mobile phone in a wide range of work-related activities for it to be eligible for a deduction, including:
 

• Communicating with colleagues via calls or messages
• Receiving and making calls to clients
• Sending and receiving emails
• Taking photos for work purposes
• Managing social media for work
• Downloading presentations or work documents
• Joining conference or video calls

If your phone is used partly for personal reasons and partly for work, you’ll need to calculate the percentage used for work purposes.

Methods for claiming mobile phone expenses on your tax return

Even if you only use your phone for work a small percentage of the time, you may still be eligible to claim that portion as a deduction in your tax return.

There are several ways to calculate your work-related phone usage depending on your circumstances and the records you have available.

Claiming incidental work-related phone expenses under $50

If your work-related phone use is only incidental and the total claim is less than $50, you don’t need to analyse itemised phone bills. Instead, you can use the following reasonable estimates:
 

• $0.25 for work calls made from your landline
• $0.75 for work calls made from your mobile
• $0.10 for work-related text messages sent from your mobile

Calculating mobile phone deductions using itemised phone bills

If your phone bill includes itemised usage, you can use it to work out the deductible amount.

For example, if:
 

• Your phone bill is $60 per month
• Your work-related usage is estimated at 25%
• You worked for 11 months during the year

Your deductible amount would be:

($60 × 25% × 11) = $165

Keeping itemised bills is one of the simplest ways to substantiate your claim if the ATO requests evidence.

Record-keeping requirements for non-itemised phone bills

If your phone bill is not itemised, you’ll need to keep records over a representative four-week period to determine your work-related usage percentage.

This may include keeping records of:
 

• The estimated number of work-related calls as a percentage of total calls
• The estimated time spent on work calls compared to total call time
• The estimated amount of data used for work-related activities compared to total data usage

You can then apply this percentage across the relevant period of the income year.

Claiming home internet and bundled phone plan expenses

If you have a bundled mobile and internet plan at home and the internet service is shared with other members of your household, you’ll need to calculate a reasonable estimate of your personal work-related use.

When calculating home internet usage, you should consider:
 

• The amount of data downloaded for work as a percentage of the total household data usage
• Any additional costs incurred because of work-related use, such as exceeding your monthly data cap

Claiming work-related home phone expenses

For home phone usage, you should consider:
 

• The number of work-related calls made as a percentage of total calls
• The amount of time spent on work calls compared to total call time
• Any additional costs incurred because of work-related calls, such as exceeding your monthly cap

As with mobile phone expenses, you can only claim the work-related portion.

Proposed $1,000 instant tax deduction for work expenses from 2026–27

As part of the 2026 Federal Budget, the Government announced a proposed instant tax deduction of up to $1,000 for eligible Australian taxpayers from the 2026–27 income year.

If legislated, eligible taxpayers earning income from work may be able to claim a standard deduction of up to $1,000 for work-related expenses without needing to separately itemise individual deductions such as phone, internet or stationery expenses.

Taxpayers with work-related expenses exceeding $1,000 would still be able to claim their actual deductions using existing substantiation rules.

As these measures are proposed only and may still require legislation before becoming law, it is important to stay updated on any changes before lodging your tax return for the 2026–27 income year.

Mobile phone and internet expenses that can’t be claimed on tax

You can only claim phone expenses that you have personally paid for yourself.

If your employer reimburses you or pays your phone bill directly, you generally can’t claim those expenses as a deduction.

You also can’t separately claim mobile phone expenses if you use the ATO’s 70 cents per hour fixed rate method for working from home expenses. This fixed rate already includes phone usage costs, along with internet, electricity and stationery expenses.

Importance of accurate records for phone and internet tax deductions

It’s important to carefully calculate your work-related phone and internet usage and keep supporting documentation for your claims.

Over-claiming work-related expenses can lead to amended assessments, repayments of excess deductions and possible penalties if the ATO determines your claim is not adequately substantiated.

Keeping accurate records throughout the year can make tax time easier and help ensure your claim is correct.

How H&R Block can help with work-related phone expense claims

Unsure how much of your phone or internet usage you can claim on your tax return? H&R Block’s experienced Tax Experts can help you work out your eligible deductions, calculate your work-related usage correctly and ensure your claim is supported with appropriate records.

Book an appointment online and visit your nearest H&R Block office or call 13 23 25 to speak with a Tax Expert today.