All You Need to Know About Taxes on Rental Income
When you have secured ownership of an investment property, you collect rent from your tenants. It is worth noting that you must declare that portion of rental income on your taxes. You have the scope of deducting all the expenses that you incurred while maintaining your rental property. You must carefully check the Australian tax depreciation rules. Some of the common expenses that you may claim include maintenance costs, depreciation, and borrowing expenses. You will not be able to claim deductions for those things that your tenant/s paid for. Tenants pay for utility bills or improvement bills among other things.
If you have become a landlord recently and you are facing some complications, here is how you may avoid common tax mistakes:
You need to make sure that your property is available for rent:
You need to make sure that your property is actually available for rent to claim a tax deduction. Along with this, you must showcase a clear will to rent your investment property. You may advertise the property so that someone can rent for it. You should read in detail about investment property depreciation rules to remove all doubts. It will be ideal on your part to avoid unrealistic rental conditions.
Get initial repairs and capital improvements correct:
You will be able to claim for ongoing repairs that are linked to wear or tear or some other damages. The damages must occur due to renting out the property and you will be able to claim them in full. You can claim them in the similar year you faced those expenses. If you get the hot water system or a part of a broken roof repaired, these can be deducted right away. Initial repairs for damages that took place when the property was bought like replacing damaged light fitting can’t be deducted immediately.
Claiming borrowing costs:
If your borrowing costs happen to be more than $100, the deduction will get spread over five years. And, if borrowing costs are below $100 or just $100, you may claim the entire figure in the similar year you faced those expenses. Leading professionals fees, costs incurred in preparing will help you understand how depreciation for property needs to be calculated. Borrowing costs may include loan establishment fees, costs incurred in preparing and filling mortgage documents, and title search charges.
Claiming purchase expenses:
You will not be able to claim any deductions for the expenses you incurred on purchasing your property. These may include the conveyance cost and stamp duty charges. When you sell your property, these expenses will be used while working out whether you need to pay capital gains tax.
Claiming interest on a loan:
You may claim an interest in the form of a deduction if you take a loan for your rental property. If you use a part of that loan money for personal use, you will not be able to claim interest on that portion. You will only claim that part of the interest that is linked to the rental property.
Conclusion:
Therefore, we can conclude here that the above points will eliminate all your doubts pertaining to rental income. You may talk to expert Quantity Surveyors to understand depreciation rules for rental property. When a rental property is rented out to family or dear ones at below market price, you must know what to do in such a scenario. Many property owners face difficulty in this situation. It is worth noting that you may claim a deduction for that tenure up to the rental income you received. You must have proper evidence of your income and expenses so that you can claim for things you are entitled to.
