Home and assets

Low-cost employee assets

An immediate deduction for certain depreciating assets costing $300 or less and mainly used to produce non-business assessable income.

Who can claim

This deduction is available to individuals.

  • Your interest in the asset costs $300 or less after any GST input-tax-credit adjustment and it is mainly used to produce non-business assessable income.
  • The asset is not part of a set you started to hold in the income year costing more than $300.
  • The asset is not one of identical or substantially identical assets you started to hold in the income year that together cost more than $300.

What you cannot claim

  • Private use must be excluded.
  • Assets allocated to a low-value pool or subject to another depreciation regime are not claimed again here.
  • An asset used mainly to earn business income does not use this non-business immediate-deduction rule.
  • Do not claim an item your employer or another party provided, paid or reimbursed; a partial reimbursement reduces the eligible cost.
  • A taxable allowance does not create an immediate deduction; the item must independently satisfy every rule.

How the amount is worked out

Eligible cost multiplied by taxable use, if the immediate-deduction conditions are satisfied.

Records the ATO expects

  • Purchase receipt
  • Work-use calculation

Where this rule comes from

Primary source: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 40-80 (Section 40-80). Reviewed 30 July 2026. Covers the 2025-26 and 2026-27 income years.

Supporting sources:

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