Early childhood educators regularly spend their own money on the room: craft supplies, picture books, sensory items, sunscreen for outdoor play and the odd farewell gift. Some of that is deductible and some is not, and the difference often comes down to whether the item stays at work or goes home with a child.

This guide covers what you can claim on your 2025-26 tax return, which is due by 31 October 2026 if you lodge yourself, and what changes for 2026-27. The ATO does not publish a separate guide for early childhood educators, so every rule here was checked on 7 October 2026 against its teachers and education professionals guide and its general deduction pages.

It is for employees in long day care, kindergarten, preschool, family day care services and out of school hours care. School teachers should read our tax deductions for teachers guide, which covers classroom teaching in more depth.

Early childhood educator deductions at a glance

Expense	Claimable?	Condition
Craft supplies, stickers, posters, books for the room	Yes	You paid and were not reimbursed
Gifts for children or families	No	Private expense
Working with children check	Sometimes	Existing employee obtaining or renewing it to keep earning income
First aid course	Sometimes	Designated first aid person, not reimbursed
Logo uniform and its laundry	Yes	Compulsory uniform identifying your employer
Plain clothes and shoes	No	Conventional clothing
Sunhat, sunscreen, sunglasses	Yes	Outdoor supervision in the sun for extended periods
Union fees	Yes	Shown on income statement or receipt
Vaccinations	No	Private, even if required

Source: ATO teachers and education professionals guide, ATO working with children check, ATO D1 car expenses 2026, checked 7 October 2026.

Can I claim resources I buy for the children?

The ATO’s teacher deductions guidance lets education workers claim teaching aids they buy for work, such as stickers, paints, stationery, posters and maps, and prizes bought to reward achievement. You need to have paid for them yourself and not been reimbursed by the centre.

Items costing $300 or less each are claimed in full in the year you buy them. Under the ATO’s $300 rule, a set or series costing more than $300 in total is depreciated over its effective life instead. The ATO’s example is a six-book series bought at $65 each ($390), which must be depreciated.

Gifts are different. The ATO’s example is a primary teacher who buys Christmas gifts for her students: the cost is private and not deductible. The same applies to farewell presents for children leaving the room.

Can I claim my working with children check and first aid course?

These are the two questions we get most from educators.

• Working with children check: the ATO’s working with children check page says you can claim it if you are an existing employee who needs to obtain or renew the check to keep earning income in your position, or a new employee whose recent income comes from continuous employment in a child-related field. If you are getting a first check to start working with children, it is not deductible.
• First aid course: claimable only if you are a designated first aid person who must complete the training to help in emergencies at work. If the service pays or reimburses you, you cannot claim it.
• Registration and accreditation: under the ATO’s accreditations page, renewing a registration you need to work is deductible; the initial cost of a qualification or registration needed before you can be employed is not. This affects early childhood teachers who hold teacher registration.

Which clothing and laundry costs are deductible?

Plain clothing, including runners and pants, is not deductible even if your service has a dress code. You can claim:

• a compulsory uniform that identifies your employer, such as a logo polo
• a non-compulsory uniform registered on the approved occupational clothing register
• protective items such as an apron, and sunhats, sunglasses and sunscreen if you supervise outdoor play in the sun for extended periods
• laundry for claimable items at $1 per work-only load or 50c per mixed load

For 2025-26, total clothing and laundry claims of $150 or less don’t need written evidence if you can show how you worked them out. From the 2026-27 income year, the ATO’s clothing and laundry page requires written evidence for all clothing, laundry, repair and dry-cleaning claims.

Can educators claim working from home and car costs?

Working from home

If you do programming, learning stories or documentation at home and incur extra running costs, you can use the fixed rate method at 70 cents per hour for 2024-25 and 2025-26 (the ATO had not published a different rate for 2026-27 when we checked). The rate covers energy, internet, phone and stationery, so you can’t claim those separately. You need a record of actual hours for the whole year; the ATO won’t accept an estimate. See our working from home guide.

Car expenses

Driving from home to your centre is private. You can claim trips during the workday, such as driving from your centre to another service, a training session or an excursion venue. The ATO D1 car instructions set the cents per km rate at 88c for 2025-26 and 91c for 2026-27, up to 5,000 work km. Parking at your regular workplace is private.

Can I claim study and professional development?

The ATO allows self-education that directly relates to your current employment and maintains or improves the skills you need, or is likely to increase your income from your current job. Course fees, textbooks and stationery are included. Study that relates only in a general way, or is designed to get you a new job, is not deductible, and HECS-HELP repayments never are. Our self-education guide explains the tests.

What can’t early childhood educators claim?

• Gifts for children or families
• Conventional clothing and footwear
• Vaccinations, even if your employer requires them
• Food and drinks during your normal shifts, and staff dinners or other social functions
• Your own child care fees, even if you need them to go to work
• Fitness or gym costs and grooming
• Parking at your centre
• Anything your employer pays for or reimburses

What records should educators keep?

Keep receipts for resources, uniforms and courses, a working from home hours record, a car trip diary and your income statement. The ATO’s records page says to keep them for 5 years from lodgment. If your total work expenses are $300 or less, you don’t need written evidence, but you must show how you worked out the claim. See our guide to claims without receipts.

Common mistakes early childhood educators make

• Claiming gifts for children: the ATO treats them as private.
• Claiming a first WWCC: a first check to start working with children is generally not deductible.
• Claiming employer-paid first aid: if the service paid, you can’t claim it.
• Using old rates: 67c per hour and 85c per km are out of date. Use 70c, and 88c or 91c per km.
• Claiming plain work clothes: only logo or registered uniforms and protective items count.

FAQ about early childhood educator tax deductions

Talk to a registered tax agent

Nanak Accountants prepares returns for early childhood educators, teachers and support staff. We can check which resources, checks and courses you can claim and lodge your return on time. Call 1300 626 258 to book an appointment.

This article is general information only and is not personal tax or legal advice. Figures and rules were checked against the ATO teachers and education professionals guide and the ATO working with children check, accreditations, car expenses, working from home, clothing and record keeping pages on 7 October 2026. Rates and thresholds change, so confirm the current position before acting.