Every year, somewhere between April and June, the same question comes over the counter in Pyrmont: can I claim this on tax? It is usually asked about a chair that has already been sat in, and it is usually answered badly — by a salesperson, with a shrug and a "yeah, should be fine".
It deserves a better answer than that, because the honest one is genuinely useful. The tax treatment of an office chair in Australia does not depend on the chair. It depends on who is buying it. The same $750 chair is an immediate deduction for one buyer, a multi-year decline-in-value claim for another, and part of a pooled asset for a third.
Two numbers do most of the work: $300 and $20,000. Which one applies to you is the whole question. Below is what the ATO actually publishes, what it means at the prices we actually charge, and where the line sits on our own range.
We are chair people, not accountants. Everything here is general information drawn from the ATO's own published guidance and current as at 19 September 2026. It is not tax advice, it takes no account of your circumstances, and the rules change. Before you claim anything, put it to your accountant or check the ATO directly — the source pages are listed at the foot of this article.
The two numbers that decide it
There are two separate immediate-deduction rules in Australian tax law, and they belong to two different kinds of buyer. People mix them up constantly, usually in the direction that costs them money.
| Employee claiming work-related expenses | Business (sole trader, partnership, company, trust) | |
|---|---|---|
| The threshold | $300 | $20,000 |
| What it is called | Immediate deduction for assets costing $300 or less | Instant asset write-off |
| Who qualifies | An individual using the asset mainly to produce income that is not from carrying on a business | A business with aggregated annual turnover of less than $10 million |
| Above the threshold | Claim the decline in value over the asset's effective life | Into the general small business pool |
| Private use | Apportion — you claim the work-related share only | Business portion only |
A $750 chair is over the employee threshold by $450 and under the business threshold by $19,250. That single fact is why the same chair is treated two completely different ways depending on whose name is on the invoice.
If you are an employee working from home
This is the largest group of people who ask us, and it is the group most often given the wrong answer — because of the fixed rate.
The 70 cent fixed rate does not include your chair
Under the ATO's fixed rate method you claim 70 cents per work hour for the 2024–25 and 2025–26 income years. It was 67 cents for 2022–23 and 2023–24.
What that rate covers is a closed list. In the ATO's own words, it includes deductions for "home and mobile internet or data expenses, mobile and home phone usage expenses, electricity and gas (energy expenses) for heating, cooling and lighting, stationery and computer consumables, such as printer ink and paper."
A chair is not on that list, and that is the point. The ATO says explicitly that on top of the fixed rate you can separately claim the "work-related use of technology and office furniture such as chairs, desks, computers, bookshelves. These are generally depreciating assets that decline in value over time. You can also claim the repairs and maintenance of these items."
So the chair is not swallowed by the hourly rate. It is a separate claim, made separately, on top. People who assume the 70 cents covers everything leave the furniture claim on the table entirely.
Under $300: four tests, not one
If a work-related depreciating asset costs $300 or less, an employee can claim an immediate deduction for it — but only if all four of the ATO's tests are met:
- "The cost of the depreciating asset must be $300 or less."
- You must use it mainly — more than 50% — "for the purpose of producing assessable income that is not income from carrying on a business."
- "The asset must not be part of a set of assets you start to hold during the income year where the total cost is more than $300."
- "The asset must not be one of a number of identical, or substantially identical assets, you start to hold during the income year that together costs more than $300."
Tests three and four are the ones that catch people, and they are worth reading twice if you are buying more than one thing. Two identical monitor arms at $174 each come to $348 together. That is the scenario test four describes. One arm at $174 is a different question from two arms at $174, and the difference is not intuitive.
Over $300: decline in value
Above $300 the immediate deduction is off the table and you claim the asset's decline in value instead, spread over its effective life. You also have to "apportion your claim if you use the item for both work and private purposes" — so a chair used four days a week for work and three for everything else is not a full claim.
We are not going to print an effective life in years for an office chair. The ATO publishes effective lives in its taxation rulings and you can either use the Commissioner's determination or self-assess, and the figure that applies to a particular asset is a question for the person preparing your return. Anyone in our industry who quotes you a confident number of years without pointing at the ruling is guessing, and we would rather say so than join in.
If you are a sole trader or a small business
Here the numbers change completely, and in your favour.
What the instant asset write-off actually says
The threshold for 2025–26 is $20,000. The ATO's conditions, in its own words:
- Your business needs "aggregated annual turnover of less than $10 million".
- The asset must be first used or installed ready for use "between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026".
- "Eligible businesses can claim an immediate deduction for the business portion of the cost of an asset in the year the asset is first used or installed ready for use."
Note the wording on timing. It is not the date you paid, and it is not the date you ordered. It is the date the thing was first used or installed ready for use. For furniture that usually means delivery and assembly, which is a reason to care about lead times in the last weeks of June rather than the last weeks of July.
Per asset — which is the part people miss
The $20,000 is not an annual allowance you spend down. The ATO states it plainly: "The $20,000 limit applies on a per asset basis, so you can instantly write-off multiple assets."
For anyone fitting out an office, that is the single most commercially significant sentence in this article. A business buying twenty chairs at $750 is buying twenty assets, each one comfortably under the limit, not one $15,000 purchase creeping toward a ceiling. The same logic runs through desks, monitor arms, whiteboards and task lighting.
It is worth saying clearly, because it is the thing people get wrong in the anxious direction: every single chair we sell is under $20,000. So is every monitor arm, every footrest, every whiteboard and every coat rack. On our range, the threshold only ever comes into play on a soundproof pod.
GST, if you are registered
Our prices include GST, because we sell to individuals as well as businesses. If you are registered for GST the ATO's rule is that "if your business is registered for GST and can claim a full GST credit on the purchase of an asset, you exclude the GST amount paid when calculating the asset's cost for depreciation purposes."
That matters most at the top of the range, where a GST-inclusive price sits near the threshold and the GST-exclusive figure sits comfortably under it. It is precisely the kind of calculation to hand to your accountant with the tax invoice attached rather than work out in your head at the counter.
When the purchase does go over the threshold
On our range, one category crosses $20,000: acoustic pods.
Our current Framery pricing, checked live on 19 September 2026 and inclusive of GST:
| Pod | Price | Relative to $20,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Framery One Compact | $14,200 | Under |
| Framery One | $19,600 | Under, by $400 |
| Framery Four | $31,800 | Over |
The Framery One at $19,600 sits $400 under the threshold on its GST-inclusive price, and further under it again if you are registered for GST and exclude the GST. The Framery Four does not, on any basis.
Being over the line is not a penalty, it is a different mechanism. The ATO: "Assets costing $20,000 or more can continue to be placed into the general small business pool and depreciated at 15% in the first income year and 30% each following income year." The deduction is not lost; it arrives over a longer period.
What we would say about that as furniture people rather than tax people: do not let a threshold choose your pod. A Four is a four-person meeting room and a One is a single-person booth. If what you need is a meeting room, buying a phone booth to stay under a number is a false economy that you will live with for a decade. Bring us the floor plan and the headcount and we will work through it with you, and your accountant can tell you what each option does to the return.
What this looks like at our prices
Every price below was checked live on 19 September 2026 and includes GST.
| Product | Price | Employee: $300 rule | Business: $20,000 rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thinking Works Vader monitor arm | from $156 | Under $300 | Under |
| Thinking Works C.ME monitor arm | from $174 | Under $300 | Under |
| HÅG Capisco FootRing | $210.60 | Under $300 | Under |
| CBS Flo single monitor arm | $279 | Under $300 | Under |
| HÅG StepUp footrest | $297.90 | Under $300, by $2.10 | Under |
| CBS Ollin monitor arm | $314 | Over $300 | Under |
| HÅG Tion 2100 | from $588.75 | Over $300 | Under |
| Kyoto Ergonomic Task Chair | $599 | Over $300 | Under |
| HÅG SoFi Mesh | from $750 | Over $300 | Under |
| RH Mereo 300 | from $1,976 | Over $300 | Under |
| HÅG Capisco 8106 | from $2,013.30 | Over $300 | Under |
| Herman Miller Aeron Remastered | $2,150 | Over $300 | Under |
Read across the table and the shape of it is obvious. For a business, every chair and every accessory we sell clears the instant asset write-off with enormous room to spare, so the tax treatment does not narrow your choice at all — buy the right chair. For an employee, the $300 line runs straight through the accessories shelf and nowhere near the chairs, which means the chair is a decline-in-value claim and always will be.
The $2.10 between the StepUp and the $300 line, and the $14 by which the Ollin clears it, are exactly the kind of detail worth having in front of you before you order rather than after.
What we give you, and why the date matters
Every order from us comes with a tax invoice showing the ABN, the GST component and the items listed separately rather than lumped into one line. Separate lines matter: a chair and a monitor arm are two assets, and an invoice that says "office furniture — $924" makes your accountant's job harder than it needs to be.
We can also tell you the delivery and installation date, which is the date the ATO's timing test turns on. If you are buying near the end of a financial year, tell us when you ask rather than after you have ordered. Lead times on some of the Flokk range run to weeks, and a chair that arrives on 2 July is a 2026–27 asset no matter when you paid for it.
If you need anything else for the file — a quote in your entity's name, a purchase order reference, a delivery docket, an itemised breakdown across cost centres for a multi-desk fit-out — ring us on the number at the top of the page and we will put it together. That is a ten-minute job at our end and it saves an argument at yours.
Who to ask
Your accountant. That is not a cop-out, it is the correct answer, and the reason is in the rules themselves: aggregated turnover, the more-than-50% test, apportionment for private use, whether two purchases form a set, and which effective life applies all turn on facts about you that we do not have and should not guess at.
What we can do is the part that is ours: tell you the exact price, tell you what is in stock, tell you the delivery date, and give you an invoice that makes the claim straightforward. Bring the rest to the person who signs your return.
Frequently asked questions
Can I claim an office chair on tax in Australia?
Generally yes, if you use it to produce income, but how you claim it depends on who you are. A business with aggregated annual turnover under $10 million may be able to claim an immediate deduction under the instant asset write-off for assets under $20,000. An employee claiming a work-related expense can claim an immediate deduction only if the asset costs $300 or less, and otherwise claims the decline in value over the asset's effective life. Check your own circumstances with your accountant.
What is the instant asset write-off threshold for 2025-26?
The threshold for 2025-26 is $20,000. The ATO states that it applies to businesses with aggregated annual turnover of less than $10 million, for assets first used or installed ready for use between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026.
Does the $20,000 limit apply to my whole order or to each chair?
The ATO states that the $20,000 limit applies on a per asset basis, so you can instantly write-off multiple assets. A business buying twenty chairs at $750 is buying twenty separate assets, each one under the limit.
Does the 70 cent working from home rate already include my chair?
No. The ATO's fixed rate of 70 cents per work hour for 2024-25 and 2025-26 covers internet and data, phone usage, electricity and gas, stationery and computer consumables. The ATO states that you can separately claim the work-related use of office furniture such as chairs and desks, which are depreciating assets that decline in value over time.
My chair cost more than $300 and I am an employee. What can I claim?
You claim the decline in value of the asset over its effective life rather than an immediate deduction, and you must apportion your claim if you use the item for both work and private purposes. The effective life that applies is a question for your accountant or the ATO's published rulings.
Are any of your chairs over the $20,000 instant asset write-off threshold?
No. Every chair, monitor arm, footrest, whiteboard and coat rack we sell is priced well under $20,000. The only products in our range that approach or cross the threshold are the Framery acoustic pods, where the Framery One Compact is $14,200, the Framery One is $19,600 and the Framery Four is $31,800, all including GST, as at 19 September 2026.
What happens if the asset costs more than $20,000?
The ATO states that assets costing $20,000 or more can continue to be placed into the general small business pool and depreciated at 15% in the first income year and 30% each following income year. The deduction is not lost, it is claimed over a longer period.
Do your prices include GST, and how does that affect the threshold?
Our prices include GST. The ATO states that if your business is registered for GST and can claim a full GST credit on the purchase of an asset, you exclude the GST amount paid when calculating the asset's cost for depreciation purposes. Give the tax invoice to your accountant rather than working it out at the counter.
Can you give me an itemised invoice for a fit-out?
Yes. Every order comes with a tax invoice showing the ABN, the GST component and each item on its own line, and we can supply a quote in your entity's name, a purchase order reference and a breakdown across cost centres. Ring us and tell us what your accountant needs.
Where to go next
If you are working out what to buy rather than how to claim it, the two most useful things we have written are how to choose office chairs for a small team, which covers specifying across a group of people rather than one desk, and why quality matters over cost when choosing an office chair, which does the ten-year arithmetic on replacement cycles. For a fit-out, start with our ergonomic office chairs, and for the pod question there is the Framery pod cost of ownership.
References
- Australian Taxation Office, $20,000 instant asset write-off for 2025–26
- Australian Taxation Office, Instant asset write-off for eligible businesses
- Australian Taxation Office, Working from home expenses — fixed rate method
- Australian Taxation Office, Assets costing $300 or less
- Australian Taxation Office, Depreciating assets you use for work
- Prices and stock checked live against chairdinkum.com.au on 19 September 2026.
General information only, current at 19 September 2026. Not tax advice. Chair Dinkum is not a registered tax agent and takes no account of your objectives, financial situation or needs. Tax rules change and individual circumstances differ — consult a registered tax agent or the ATO before making a claim.
