Truck drivers – income and work-related deductions

3 min read

If you earn your income as an employee truck driver, this information will help you to work out what:

income and allowances to report
you can and can't claim as a work-related deduction
records you need to keep.

When we say:

'truck', we mean a large and heavy vehicle used for transporting articles or goods
'local driver', we mean a driver who usually travels within a city or town and sleeps at home after completing their work
'short-haul driver', we mean a driver who usually travels between cities and towns but returns home to sleep after completing their work
'long-haul driver', we mean a driver who sleeps away from home, as a long rest break is mandatory as part of their work.

Find out about truck drivers':

Income – salary and allowances

Your employer will provide either an income statement or a payment summary that shows all your salary, wages and allowances for the financial year.

Include all of the income you received during the financial year in your tax return, regardless of when you earned it, including:

Don't include reimbursements.

Salary and wages

You must include your salary and wages as income in your tax return. Include any bonuses.

See also:

Employment income

Allowances

Include all allowances shown on your income statement or payment summary as income in your tax return.

You may receive an allowance to:

compensate you for an aspect of your work, for example, carrying unpleasant or dangerous goods
help you to pay for certain expenses such as meals in connection with overtime you work.

If your employer pays you:

an amount based on an estimate of what you might spend, such as paying cents per kilometre if you use your car for work, then it is an allowance
for the actual amount of the expense (either before or after you incur the expense), such as paying for the petrol you use if you use your car for work, then it is a reimbursement.

Allowances on your income statement or payment summary

You may receive allowances:

for work that may be unpleasant, special or dangerous, such as collecting nappies, butchers bones or fat or for camping out
in recognition of holding special skills, such as a first-aid certificate or rear-end steering
to compensate for industry peculiarities, such as for weekend or holiday shifts.

These payments don't cover you for expenses you might incur. You may also receive allowances to cover expenses that you might incur, such as overtime meals.

Include these allowances as income. If you receive an allowance from your employer, you aren't always entitled to a deduction – it depends on the situation, see Deductions.

Allowances not on your income statement or payment summary

Your employer may not include some allowances on your income statement or payment summary. This can apply to travel allowances and overtime meal allowances paid under an industrial law, award or agreement. You can see these allowances on your payslips.

If the allowance is not on your income statement or payment summary, and you:

spent the whole amount on deductible expenses
- don't include it as income in your tax return
- you can't claim any deductions for these expenses
spent more than your allowance
- include the allowance as income in your tax return
- claim a deduction for your expense, if you are eligible, see Deductions.

See also:

Reimbursements

If your employer pays you the exact amount for expenses you incur (either before or after you have incurred them), the payment is a reimbursement. We don't consider a reimbursement to be an allowance.

If you're reimbursed for expenses you incur:

don't include the reimbursement as income in your tax return
you can't claim a deduction for them.

Find out about truck drivers':