Every musician who drives to gigs is sitting on a tax deduction they are probably not claiming properly.

The mileage adds up faster than you would think. A forty-minute drive each way, three nights a week across a year — that is thousands of kilometres of travel directly connected to your income-earning activity. In most countries, that qualifies as a deductible expense. But only if you have kept the records to prove it.

Is mileage actually deductible for musicians?

In most countries, travel directly related to your work as a musician is deductible. That typically includes:

–Driving to and from gigs
–Travel to and from rehearsals for paid work
–Travel to recording sessions
–Travel to music-related meetings with clients, venues, or contractors

For most gigging musicians there is no regular fixed workplace. Each gig is a separate engagement at a different location, which in most jurisdictions means the travel qualifies.

What you need to record

Generally you will need the date of the trip, the starting location and destination, the purpose of the trip, and the total kilometres or miles travelled.

In Australia, the ATO's cents per kilometre method is simpler for most musicians — it allows you to claim a set rate per kilometre without a full logbook. For higher mileage, the logbook method often yields a larger deduction.

The problem with tracking it manually

Most musicians intend to track their mileage. They write it down for a few weeks, then stop. Then it is tax time and they are estimating — which is both less accurate and less defensible if you are ever audited.

Manual tracking fails because it requires you to remember to do something immediately after every trip, while you are tired, in the dark, carrying gear.

Three approaches that actually work

Dedicated mileage apps — apps like TripLog or MileIQ track your trips automatically using GPS and produce tax-ready reports. Both work well and are worth the small cost if mileage is a significant part of your deductions.

Built-in mileage tracking — if you are already using SessionsNV to manage your gigs, the Studio plan includes a mileage tracker alongside your income and expense records. Your travel is logged in the same place as your gigs, and the tax report exports cleanly at year end.

A simple spreadsheet — not glamorous, but it works if you use it consistently. Update it in the car park before you drive away.

How much is it actually worth?

In Australia in 2024 to 2025, the ATO cents per kilometre rate is 88 cents per kilometre. If you drive 5,000 kilometres to gigs in a year — not unusual for an active musician — that is a $4,400 deduction. At a 32.5% marginal tax rate, that is over $1,400 back. For a ten-minute-a-week habit of logging your trips, that is a very reasonable return.

Start from the next gig

You cannot go back and reconstruct every trip from memory accurately enough to use in a return. But you can start from the next time you get in the car.

Open an app, or open a note, and log it. Date, destination, kilometres. It takes longer to decide to do it than it actually does.

The gig is where the music happens. The mileage is part of the cost of doing it. Claim what you are entitled to — you have already done the driving.