Your phone is your camera, your editing suite, your inbox, and your storefront. Your internet is your distribution channel. Your subscriptions are your tools, your research and your soundtrack. For Australian content creators, these three categories make up some of the biggest, most overlooked deductions on a tax return.

Here is how to claim them properly so the ATO does not bounce them back.

Phone, internet and subscription deductions for Australian creators

The Golden Rule: Work Use Percentage

You can never claim 100% of a phone, internet or subscription unless you have a separate one used solely for work. For almost every creator, the same iPhone is used to film a reel and text mum, the same Wi-Fi is used to upload a YouTube video and stream Netflix on the couch.

The ATO solution is the work-use percentage. You apportion the bill between work and personal, and only claim the work portion. If your phone bill is $100 a month and 50% of your usage is content creation, you claim $50 a month, or $600 a year.

Do not pluck a number out of thin air. The ATO's number one fix in audits of creators is "you cannot prove how you arrived at 80%". A documented four week diary turns a risky claim into an iron clad one.

How to Claim Your Phone Bill

Step 1: Keep a four week diary

Pick any representative four week period in the year. Each day, jot down (or estimate end of week) how many hours your phone was used for:

Step 2: Calculate the percentage

Divide work hours by total hours of phone use. Most active creators land between 30% and 70%. Save the diary as a PDF — that is your evidence.

Step 3: Apply it to your annual bill

If your phone plan is $89 a month and your work-use is 55%, you claim:

$89 x 12 x 55% = $587.40

What about the phone itself?

Phones costing $300 or less can be claimed in full at the work-use percentage in the year of purchase. Phones over $300 are depreciated over an effective life of 3 years (about 33% per year) at the work-use percentage. Depreciation guide.

How to Claim Your Internet

Same approach. Four week diary of household internet use, divide work hours by total hours, apply the percentage to your annual internet cost.

For most full time creators, the internet work-use percentage tends to be higher than the phone (40-80%) because uploads, livestreams, cloud editing and Zoom calls eat a lot of bandwidth.

Alternatively, if you use the fixed rate method (currently 70 cents per hour) for working from home, that rate already includes your phone, internet, electricity and gas, so you cannot claim them separately on top. Most creators are better off with the actual cost method. Home office method comparison.

Software and Creator Tool Subscriptions

This is where creator deductions get fun. Almost every monthly software subscription you use for content is fully deductible at its work-use portion. Common ones:

Streaming Subscriptions: Netflix, Spotify, YouTube Premium

This is the question we get asked the most. The honest answer is: it depends on what content you make.

Probably claimable (work portion)

Probably not claimable

The test the ATO applies is: would you reasonably need this subscription if you were not creating content? If yes, it is private. If no, the work portion is deductible. Document why you need it.

Subscriptions You Will Almost Always Miss

The 4 Week Diary Template

You do not need anything fancy. A spreadsheet works. Each day, log:

  1. Date
  2. Hours of work-use (phone or internet)
  3. Hours of personal use (phone or internet)
  4. One line on what you used it for

At the end of four weeks, sum the columns. Work hours / Total hours = your percentage. Save the file. Done. The ATO accepts this as a "reasonable basis" for your claim.

Pro tip: do the diary in a heavy production month, not your slowest. As long as the four weeks are representative of how you generally use your phone and internet for work, the percentage is fair.

The Receipts You Need

Keep them for five years. Record keeping guide.

Tired of guessing what you can claim?

Send us your bills and subscriptions. Our Chartered Accountants will work out the right percentage and make sure nothing is missed at lodgement.

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