Negative Gearing: Everything You Need to Know About It

Negative gearing is a term for describing a circumstance when money earned through an asset is less than the expenses for holding the asset. The term applies to any kind of investment. The expenses include the fees for managing the property, the interest on the investment loan, depreciation, and more. In case you hardly have the time to manage your tax return Australia, then you need to contact an accountant. So, as we check how negative gearing works, you can read ahead to know the advantages of positive gearing.

How Does Negative Gearing Work?

Whenever an investor negatively gears a particular property, he can claim the overall loss as the investment loss. The accountant considers the equivalent loss while filing tax returns. Moreover, the accountant deducts the loss from the current taxes, but with some restrictions. Even though the investors don’t aim at negative gearing, it helps them to realise long term capital gains. The loss also helps to regain intermittent losses for a short term. This, in turn, helps to pay off less loan and increase the rent till the situation changes.

Before moving ahead with negative gearing, the investors should be financially stable. This would assure them to cover up for the shortfall until they sell the property. On the other hand, in case the floating index is an aspect to calculate interest, then investors can expect low rates. If you are unable to determine the asset value for a year, then refer to the tax depreciation tables 2015.

Advantages of Negative Gearing

The main advantage of negative gearing is that it helps to reduce the overall tax. It helps the investors to focus on returns for the long term instead of cash returns for a short time span. In case the situation is not negatively geared, then it’s better to ensure that the property income is more than the expenses. This leads to manage the property in a better way and spend little on maintaining the property.

Some investors may add on that negative gearing may improve the rental affordability and impact the property supply. But, ideally, this aids to lower down the purchase price as well as the rent.

Disadvantages of Negative Gearing

Among the disadvantages, negative gearing leads to reducing tax payable. But, such a loss comes under negative cash flow. Hence, it is not appropriate for investors who wish to earn more through a passive source of income. With no extra money, the investor may lose the property due to debts not paid on time. You could claim tax refunds on rental property if you’re seeking ways to save on tax.

With the ever-changing market trends, negative gearing may lead to higher risks. In fact, the investors may have faced a lean phase when they rely only on capital gains. However, a positive cash flow assures the investor about gaining profits even when the property value declines. Later, the investor may think about reducing the limit as per their borrowing capacity. This makes it difficult to move ahead and grow their portfolio.

Conclusion:

Before making a decision, the investor must get in touch with an expert to learn more about the strategies. This can help them to pace ahead with their wealth-creating journey depending on the financial and personal goals. Once they get in touch with a professional, they don’t have to bother with the yield on investment property. They can also check out for a depreciating schedule to learn more about the tax returns.