Can you claim $300 tax deduction without receipts?

Yes — with conditions. The ATO allows you to claim up to $300 in work-related expenses without holding written evidence (receipts), provided each individual item costs less than $75. But this is a concession, not an invitation to guess.

The exact rule

Under section 900-35 of the ITAA 1997, you are not required to hold written evidence for work-related expenses if:

• The total amount of all expenses where you do not have a receipt is $300 or less
• Each individual unreceipted expense is less than $75

If either condition fails — if your total exceeds $300, or any single item is $75 or more — you need written evidence for all of your claims.

What "no receipt" actually means

You still need to have actually incurred the expense. The $300 concession removes the requirement to hold a physical receipt — it does not allow you to invent expenses. If the ATO asks how you arrived at your figures, you need to be able to explain it using bank statements, diary entries, or other records.

Exclusions

The $300 rule does not cover travel allowance expenses, car expenses, or any expense where the tax law specifies a particular record-keeping requirement. For these, receipts or appropriate logs are always required.

Should you bother with receipts even under $300?

Yes. If you are audited, a receipt resolves the question in seconds. Without one, even a legitimate claim can be disallowed if you cannot substantiate it. Keeping every receipt is trivially easy with a receipt app.