June. Where has the year gone! Tax time is quickly approaching and we suspect you may have already fished out your calculator, or called your accountant, and gotten busy with number-crunching your income and expenses for this year.

 

If you are a new property investor, “Income” includes the amount of rent you receive for the property on an annual basis. “Expenses” (and the things you need to keep a record of) can include:

 

– advertising for tenants

– bank charges

– body corporate fees and charges

– borrowing expenses

– capital works

– cleaning

– council rates

– decline in value of 

   depreciating assets

– gardening and lawn mowing

– insurance

– interest expenses

– land tax

– legal expenses

– pest control

– phone

– property agent fees and commissions

– repairs and maintenance

– stationery and postage

– water charges.

 

Much of these records will come from your annual owner statements, however there are some complexities surrounding some items.

 

The trickier ones to look out for are:

 

Not all repairs and maintenance are fully tax deductible in the one year; ‘capital works’ includes expenses from making improvements to your property such as building constructions and carrying out significant repairs and maintenance. These are deductions that need to be claimed over a period of several years. If in doubt about whether it’s “capital works” or “repairs and maintenance” please always consult a professional tax advisor.

 

Depreciation refers to the loss in value of an asset calculated against it’s lifespan. These are complex calculations that are best carried out by a qualified Quantity Surveyor, but can result in some pretty good deductions! 

 

Contact us if you are interested in pursuing this (now is a good time as the Quantity Surveyor’s fee for service would also be tax deductible if you complete this before June 30!)