Taxr for Tradies: Every Receipt From the Ute to the Tax Return

Tradies spend money all day. A trip to the wholesaler before the first job, consumables at lunch, a replacement blade because the old one gave up on site. Almost all of it is deductible, and a good chunk of it never makes it onto the tax return, because the receipt was a docket that spent three weeks in the centre console.

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

Where Tradies Lose Deductions

The big invoices survive. Your wholesaler emails them, and your accountant gets them. What disappears is the constant small spending that is genuinely part of running the business:

  • Materials and consumables – fittings, fixings, sealant, blades, abrasives, tape
  • Tools – hand tools, power tools, batteries and chargers, and the work-use portion of anything shared with home
  • Safety gear and PPE – boots, hi-vis, gloves, glasses, hearing protection, hard hats
  • Fuel – every fill of the ute or van
  • Vehicle servicing and repairs – logbook services, tyres, brakes, roadworthy checks
  • Site parking and tolls – CBD jobs where parking costs more than the callout
  • Phone and internet – the work-related portion of the plan you quote and invoice from
  • Licences, tickets and renewals – white card, electrical or plumbing licence, high-risk work licences
  • Union and association fees – and trade publication subscriptions
  • Training and tickets – courses to keep a licence current or add a capability
  • Equipment hire – scaffold, EWP, compactor, whatever the job needed for two days
  • Accounting fees – what you pay to have last year’s return prepared

Individually most of these are small. Across a year across a trade, they are not.

Scan It Before You Leave the Carpark

Photograph the docket standing at the ute. The AI reads the vendor, date, total and GST, sorts it into a category, and you confirm it. About five seconds, which is short enough to do before you have put the phone back in your pocket.

That timing is the entire point. A receipt captured at the counter is a deduction. The same receipt found in a jacket in July is a guess.

Categories Built From the Actual Return

Taxr sorts expenses using categories drawn from the deduction groupings on the Australian individual return, not a generic accounting chart. Materials sit apart from tools, vehicle costs sit apart from fuel, and licences sit apart from training. You can rename or reassign anything.

When it is time to file, export to Excel or PDF with the receipt images attached and send the lot to your accountant or bookkeeper. The summary already totals per category, which is the format they will ask for anyway.

If You Work With an Accountant

Your accountant can view your receipts directly through the free Taxr accountant portal, so the June conversation stops being a request for a shoebox. If they are not on it yet, the export is a single file and they will not need any software to open it.

What It Costs

$2.99 a month, or $29.99 a year. One forgotten tool purchase or a single missed equipment hire usually covers it.

Start With Today’s Docket

There is no setup and no backfilling required. Scan the next receipt you get, keep doing it, and the record builds itself.

Download Taxr and scan your first receipt in about five seconds.