The Australian Taxation Office is reviewing its earlier ruling on travel allowances and deductions for members of parliament.
Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan said there were no special rules for politicians, who operated under the same rules as all other taxpayers.
"However, given that there are clear misunderstandings of how the ruling is applied, we will undertake to review the 1999 ruling to give greater clarity for all taxpayers on the treatment of allowances they may receive from their employer to cover the costs of work-related travel," he said in a statement.
Labor has called for a change to the rules that allow federal politicians to claim expenses such as electricity and renovations for their Canberra residences as tax deductions.
That follows reports politicians are entitled to claim allowances for staying in their own homes in Canberra.
Mr Jordan said any taxpayer who had to travel overnight for work was entitled to deduct the costs of meals and accommodation and there were no special provisions for politicians.
All taxpayers, including members of parliament, shouldn't be claiming deductions for travel expenses unless they had declared the allowance as income in their tax returns.
After extensive consultation, the ATO issued a comprehensive ruling on how those provisions applied to MPs.
"This ruling specifically deals with how we assess travel allowances and deductions for members of parliament and is consistent with how the courts have applied the general laws applying to all taxpayers regarding the deductibility of work-related travel expenses," he said.
