The Little Black Book of Tax Deductions for Truck Drivers

The quiet leak

Meet Robbo's accountant. Never slept in a cab.

Robbo runs interstate, B-double, nights away most weeks. His accountant did the standard return, claimed bugger all, and charged him $330.

He never asked about the meal allowances — the reasonable amounts you can claim for every breakfast, lunch and dinner on the road, often without keeping every receipt. Never mentioned the logbook, the gear, the phone. Why would he? He gets his $330 whether Robbo gets $400 back or $4,000.

For a long-haul driver, the road meals alone are thousands a year. Robbo's been handing it straight back.

Robbo's leak — one year

Road meals (reasonable amounts)$3,800

Work gear, laundry & sleeping bag$320

Phone & logbook costs$480

Union & licences$420

Back in his pocket~$1,500

The fix

You don't need to do your own tax. You need to run the bloke who does.

Leave the lodging to the accountant — you're paying for it. You just need to know what's yours to claim, what to hand him, and what to tell him to chase.

✓

Plain English

No jargon. What you can claim and why — sorted over a servo coffee.

🔒

Audit-safe

Every claim tied to a current ATO ruling, including the meal-allowance rules. I tell you what you can't claim too.

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5 minutes a week

A dead-simple system so the meals and km are logged before you forget them at the next stop.

The maths

It's a tool, not a book. And it can't really cost you.

01 · It's a tool

Comes with the Accountant Brief

Fill in the one-page brief + the deduction index, hand them over, and watch nothing slip through. You don't read this once — you use it. See the brief →

02 · It's a write-off

The cost is itself deductible

Managing your tax affairs is deductible (ATO s25-5). Keep the receipt and have your accountant claim it — a tax tool that's also a tax deduction.

03 · It's guaranteed

Pays for itself, or it's free

If it doesn't claw back more than it cost, email me within 60 days for a full refund. Keep the book.

Pays for itself · deductible · guaranteed — the only way to lose is to keep overpaying.

How it works

Vet. Arm. Direct. Then watch him earn it.

01 · Vet

Suss out the dud

Ten questions that out a coasting accountant in five minutes. Pass: keep him. Fail: next.

02 · Arm

Hand over the log

The meal record and km so nothing "slips through" and he can't blame the paperwork.

03 · Direct

Tell him what to chase

The road meals, the logbook, the lot. You point, he fetches. That's the fee.

What's inside

The cheat sheet — plus the boring detail, for the keen.

Is your accountant actually any good? (Spoiler: maybe not)

The ten questions that out a coaster in five minutes.

The meal-allowance goldmine

Reasonable amounts for breakfast, lunch & dinner on the road — the big one most drivers underclaim.

Logbook, gear & nights away

What to claim when you live out of the cab, and the records that make it stick.

What you can't claim

So you push hard where it counts and never trip an audit.

Employee vs owner-driver

The questions to actually put to your accountant for your setup.

By the numbers

This isn't dodgy. It's the money that's already yours.

Minimisation, never evasion — every figure tied to current ATO guidance (TD 2025/4).

$1,500average a driver was leaving behind, every year

$61.30reasonable dinner amount on the road (2025–26)

100%of claims cited to current ATO rulings · audit-safe

Who's writing this

"I'm not an accountant. I'm the bloke who reads the rules everyone else skips — and tells you which ones are quietly costing you money."

I'm Joshua. I'm 30, and I've spent my life pulling systems apart to see how they really work. I've made a fortune, lost it, and learned more from the losing than the winning.

Everything's a system — tax, money, even the run sheet. Every one has a way in once you can see it. Tax is just the first one worth learning to beat, because it's the one quietly costing you the most. I'm not turning you into an accountant. I'm showing you how the game works so the bloke you pay actually plays it for you.

— Joshua

What drivers say

From the truck stop.

★★★★★

"Never claimed a meal in ten years. The allowance chapter alone got me $3,400 back. Gutted I didn't know sooner."

RBRobbo · interstate, B-double

★★★★★

"Listened to the lot on a Melbourne run. Walked into the accountant knowing more than him."

DGDeano · linehaul, SA

★★★★★

"Plain English, no fluff, actual money back. Passed it round the depot."

CWChad · local & regional

Coming soon

This one's not out yet — get first dibs.

The Nurses & Midwives edition is live now. The Truck Drivers edition is in the works. Join the waitlist — you'll be first to know, and first to the launch price.

Straight answers

The questions you're actually thinking.

Is this legal?

Completely. Tax minimisation — claiming what the law already lets you — not evasion. The meal-allowance rules are straight out of the ATO's own determination (TD 2025/4). I tell you what you can't claim too.

Do I really not need receipts for meals?

Within the ATO's reasonable amounts and if you get a bona-fide allowance, you can claim without keeping every receipt — but there are conditions, and the book spells them out exactly so you don't overstep.

Are you an accountant?

No — and you don't need another one. I teach you to run the one you've got and spot when he's phoning it in.

What if it doesn't help me?

Then you don't pay. 60-day, no-questions refund. If it doesn't claw back more than $24, email me — keep the book, I'll wear it.

Not ready? Start free.

The 5 deductions your accountant keeps "forgetting."

Drop your email and I'll send the free cheat sheet — the checklist, a meal & km log, and the 60-second refund calculator. Genuinely useful, no spam.