Tax Deductions for Personal Trainers in Australia

Taxr Team
Tax tips
July 1, 2026

Table of Contents

Personal training is a physically demanding profession – but it’s also an expensive one. Between gym rent, equipment, certifications, insurance, and travel between clients, the costs stack up fast. The good news is that most of those costs are legitimate tax deductions for personal trainers in Australia, and claiming them properly can put thousands of dollars back in your pocket each year. This guide breaks down every major deduction category so you know exactly what to claim.

Disclaimer: This article provides general information only and does not constitute tax advice. Consult a registered tax agent for advice specific to your circumstances.

Fitness Equipment Deductions

If you supply your own equipment for client sessions, those costs are deductible. How you claim depends on what each item costs:

Items costing $300 or less – claim an immediate deduction in the year of purchase. This covers most portable equipment: resistance bands, yoga mats, foam rollers, skipping ropes, agility ladders, and lighter dumbbells.
Items costing more than $300 – depreciate the cost over the item’s effective life. For example, a $1,500 set of adjustable dumbbells with a 10-year effective life would give you a $150 deduction per year under the prime cost method.
Instant asset write-off – if you operate as a sole trader or small business with aggregated turnover under $10 million, you may be able to write off eligible assets immediately rather than depreciating them. Check the ATO’s instant asset write-off page for current thresholds.

Common equipment deductions for personal trainers include:

Dumbbells, kettlebells, and barbells
Resistance bands, TRX suspension trainers, and battle ropes
Exercise mats, stability balls, and foam rollers
Boxing pads, gloves, and bags
Portable speakers for outdoor sessions
Heart rate monitors or fitness trackers used with clients
Portable storage (trolleys, bags, or crates for transporting equipment)

Example: A personal trainer who buys a TRX system for $280, a set of resistance bands for $90, and a Bosu ball for $150 can claim the full $520 as an immediate deduction.

Professional Certifications and CPD

The fitness industry requires ongoing education, and these costs are fully deductible when they relate to your current work:

Maintaining existing qualifications – Cert III and Cert IV in Fitness renewal costs, first aid and CPR recertification
Specialisation courses – pre- and post-natal training, strength and conditioning, nutrition, group fitness, boxing, Pilates, or yoga instructor courses (provided they relate to your current income-earning activity)
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) – courses, workshops, and seminars required to maintain your registration points
Conference attendance – including registration fees, travel, and accommodation for industry events like FILEX or AUSactive conferences

Important: The ATO distinguishes between maintaining or improving existing skills (deductible) and gaining qualifications for a new profession (not deductible). If you’re already a qualified PT and take a nutrition specialisation course to offer better service to your existing clients, that’s deductible. If you’re studying a completely new field like physiotherapy, it’s not.

Registration and Membership Fees

Professional registration fees are deductible, including:

AUSactive (formerly Fitness Australia) registration – the annual fee to maintain your industry registration
First aid certification fees – required to maintain your PT registration
Working with Children Check – if required for your work
Professional association memberships – any fitness industry body relevant to your practice
Gym or studio memberships – but only the portion used for work purposes (training clients, not your own personal workouts)

Insurance Premiums

Insurance is non-negotiable for personal trainers, and the premiums are deductible:

Public liability insurance – covers you if a client is injured during a session or someone trips over your equipment in a park. Most insurers offer policies starting from around $150-$300 per year for PTs.
Professional indemnity insurance – covers claims arising from your professional advice (e.g., a client alleges your programming caused an injury)
Income protection insurance – premiums are deductible, though any payout is treated as assessable income
Equipment insurance – if you insure your gear against theft or damage

A personal trainer paying $250 for public liability, $200 for professional indemnity, and $150 for equipment insurance can claim $600 in insurance deductions.

Branded Clothing and Uniforms

Clothing deductions for personal trainers have strict rules. You can claim:

Branded uniforms – shirts, jackets, or caps with your business name, logo, or branding. The ATO requires the branding to be permanently attached (printed, embroidered, or similar) and clearly identify you as working for a particular business.
Protective footwear – shoes specifically designed for the type of training you deliver, if they provide protection beyond ordinary footwear
Sun protection – hats, sunscreen, and sun-protective clothing if you work outdoors regularly

What you can’t claim: Plain activewear, even if you only wear it for work. A pair of black leggings or a generic gym shirt is not deductible unless it carries your business branding. The ATO’s clothing and laundry expenses guidance is clear on this point.

You can also claim laundry costs for eligible branded uniforms – up to $150 without written evidence, or more if you keep a laundry diary.

Vehicle and Travel Expenses

If you travel between clients, gyms, or outdoor training locations during the day, those travel costs are deductible. The ATO offers two methods:

Cents per Kilometre Method

85 cents per business kilometre (2023-24 rate)
Capped at 5,000 km per year
Maximum claim of $4,250

Logbook Method

Keep a logbook for at least 12 consecutive weeks
Calculate your business-use percentage
Claim that percentage of all running costs: fuel, rego, insurance, servicing, depreciation, and loan interest

For mobile personal trainers who drive between multiple client locations each day, the logbook method almost always produces a larger deduction. A PT travelling to four or five different locations per day could easily clock 20,000+ business kilometres per year.

Note: Travel from home to your first client and from your last client back home is generally treated as a commute and is not deductible – unless your home is your base of business operations and you carry bulky equipment that cannot be stored at a regular workplace.

Home Office Deductions

Many personal trainers do programming, admin, invoicing, and client communication from home. If you use a dedicated space at home for this work, you can claim home office expenses:

Fixed rate method – 67 cents per hour for every hour you work from home, covering energy costs, phone, internet, stationery, and computer consumables
Actual cost method – calculate the actual costs of running your home office, including a proportional share of electricity, internet, phone, and depreciation of office furniture and equipment

Even if you only spend an hour a day doing programming and admin at home, that adds up. At 67 cents per hour for 250 working days, that’s $167.50 per year – just for the home office portion.

Phone, Internet, and Software

Your phone is an essential business tool – client communication, scheduling, payments, and social media all run through it. You can claim the business-use percentage of:

Phone bills – calls and data used for client bookings, scheduling, and communication
Internet – the work-related portion of your home internet
Music subscriptions – if you use Spotify, Apple Music, or similar services to play music during group classes or PT sessions, the work-use portion is deductible
Scheduling and booking software – platforms like Mindbody, Acuity, or Calendly
Payment processing apps – Square, Stripe, or other payment tools
Social media management tools – if you use paid tools for business marketing

Gym Rent and Facility Hire

If you rent space in a gym, studio, or community hall to train clients, those costs are fully deductible:

Gym floor rent or sublease payments
Studio hire for group classes
Park or council facility hire fees
Equipment storage costs at a gym or facility

Some PTs pay a flat monthly fee to operate out of a gym; others pay per session or per client. Either way, the cost is deductible.

Marketing and Advertising

Getting clients requires marketing, and those costs are deductible:

Business website hosting, domain, and design costs
Social media advertising (Facebook, Instagram, Google Ads)
Business cards and flyers
Photography or videography for promotional material
Online directory listings
Referral fees or affiliate commissions

Record-Keeping Tips for Personal Trainers

The ATO requires you to keep records for five years, and digital copies of receipts are accepted. For personal trainers who are constantly on the move, a digital system is essential – you’re not going to sort through a pile of paper receipts at the end of the financial year.

Get into the habit of scanning every receipt the moment you get it: equipment purchases, fuel stops, insurance renewals, certification payments. A photo on your phone is all it takes, but a dedicated receipt scanning app will organise everything by category and make tax time painless.

For more general tips on maximising your deductions, check out our guide on 5 tax deduction tips every freelancer should know.

Start Claiming What You’re Entitled To

Between equipment, certifications, insurance, travel, and facility costs, personal trainers have a wide range of deductions available – but only if you keep the records to back them up. Taxr makes it simple: scan your receipts with your phone between sessions, let the AI categorise each expense automatically, and export everything for your tax agent at EOFY. No spreadsheets, no shoeboxes, no stress. Download Taxr and start keeping more of what you earn.