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Top 4 Tax Deductions Claimed by Property Investors

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It is significant to ensure that you maximize your tax deductions for your investment property every year in Australia. The higher the tax deductions will imply less tax payment to the Australian Tax Office (ATO). When you buy an investment property, you must consider a few vital questions. But, a large number of investors often take into consideration the tenanting capacity, location, and purchase price of the property. They end up overlooking depreciation for residential rental property in many cases. Depreciation has the capacity of unlocking significant cash flow potential within an investment property. It will leave you with thousands of additional Dollars every financial year.

Here are some important tax deductions that you must not ignore:

1. Capital allowance and depreciation:

These tax deductions are meant for the overall wear & tear of your property over a period of time. These tax deductions have emerged to be the biggest deductions being claimed by property investors. However, these deductions often tend to be the most missed ones. You must get in touch with a renowned quantity surveyor to discover what deductions you may claim on your property. It is because results tend to vary. You need to assess factors when you bought it, how old it is, how long you have owned it, and renovations. An expert QS will assess all this data and prepare your investment property depreciation schedule ATO.

2. Interest and fees:

If you took a bank loan for buying a rental property, you can claim deductions for interest levied on that loan amount. In case you paid $15000 interest for the financial period including $150 bank fees, you can claim the entire $15,150 as a tax deduction. If property remained tenanted briefly, your accountant can prepare a pro-rata claim for the period during which it was leased.

3. Property advertising and management fees:

It will include the fees that you paid while trying to find a tenant for your property. It may include expenses like online, print, or signage and you will be eligible to claim them against income produced by that property. Similarly, you may also claim fees, commissions, or payments that you paid to an agent for managing your property. There are several reliable property depreciation consultants available and you may seek their assistance while preparing your depreciation report.

4. Insurance:

It has emerged as one of the most significant expenditures. It is worth noting that you can claim the cost of your insurance premiums against your rental property.  And, if you need to claim a part of this expenditure as a result of a partial rental year or several properties insured together. In such a scenario, the insurance provider will offer you help with a breakdown.

Conclusion:

You may seek your accountant’s assistance to ensure you claim your tax deductions properly. He will assess whether all the expenses have been included or not and make effective use of the investment property calculator. An expert will take into consideration the repairs and maintenance work as well. You need to undertake these works to repair a defect or to fix deterioration to the property. These tax deductions are claimed by landlords every year in Australia.

Everything You Need to Know About Property Depreciation

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Property investors receive many taxation advantages in Australia. And, this is the reason why they prefer to make their investment in properties all across the country. But, sometimes investors fail to file the Australian tax return and subsequently miss out on the benefits of depreciation deductions. A large number of investors are aware of the various claims available to them for expenses. The expenses may include loans’ interest, council rates, property management fees, repairs and maintenance costs, among others.

Given below are some vital details about property depreciation that you should be aware of:

1. Property depreciation:

When the building begins to age, its shape and the assets inside it tend to wear out. These things depreciate over a period of time. It is worth noting that the Australian Taxation Office or ATO has permitted income-generating properties’ owners to claim depreciation as a tax deduction. Depreciation deduction can be divided into two separate categories. It includes division 43 capital works allowance and division 40 plant and equipment depreciation. It will help in preparing a property depreciation schedule.

2. Significance of capital works allowance:

It pertains to the claims for the wear and tear that takes place to the building structure and fixed objects. Capital work will contain objects such as roofs, walls, doors, kitchen cupboards, and toilet bowls, among others. Any residential building where construction started after September 15, 1987, will make its owner eligible for capital works deductions. The deduction can be sought for up to forty years at the rate of 2.5% every year. Owners of buildings built before 1987 should discover what deductions will remain available as these buildings underwent renovations. The renovations will lead to capital works deductions. Rental home returns have emerged to be highly profitable.

3. Plant and equipment depreciation:

Plant and equipment depreciation are eligible to be claimed for conveniently removable fixtures and fittings available inside the property. There are over 6000 various depreciable assets identified by ATO. It includes carpets, blinds, air conditioners, and smoke alarms among others. Each plant and equipment asset is allocated an individual effective lifespan and depreciation rate. As per the existing legislation, second-hand property owners who exchanged contracts after May 9, 2017, cannot claim deductions for earlier used plant and equipment assets. And, investors who bought new residential and highly renovated properties, commercial real estate will be able to claim depreciation deductions.

4. Importance of claiming depreciation:

It is significant for the owner of the residential property to claim a depreciation deduction. It will help in making a huge difference in an investors’ cash flow. We have discovered that a residential client’s average first-year claim was approximately $9000.

Conclusion:

You may claim the depreciation of your investment property against taxable income. And, seasoned property investors are aware of the benefits of depreciation residential rental property. Some property investors will even take depreciation into consideration prior to buying their next investment property. Anyone buying a property for the purpose of generating income will remain eligible to depreciate buildings and assets inside it against assessable income. It will help to lessen their tax burden and maximize the gains.

How is Depreciation Applied Following Natural Disasters?

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Natural disasters are one of the leading causes of damage to properties. Situations involving such disasters often necessitate owners to substitute various assets. At times, depending on the degree of damage, they may also feel the need to rebuild their properties.

Though it can be a challenging task for both owners and tenants alike to deal with such a situation, there are ways to mend it. As it can be expensive, owners consider linking it to tax depreciation schedules. If you do not know much about depreciation, here are the things you need to know to maintain depreciation deductions for damaged properties:

Assessment and Depreciation of Disaster-Stricken Properties:

According to Australian tax rules, it is important on the part of an owner to submit a report on a damaged property to claim the expenses. Regardless of whether you repair, replace or improve an asset, you need to submit the property report to the concerned authorities.

Furthermore, the consequences may differ slightly, based on whether the property in question is an insured property or an uninsured one. Depending on whether or not the inspection of a property has been done, there can be two set of possibilities for an owner which are as follows:

A Quantity Surveyor Has Inspected the Property:

In this scenario, the owner can make adjustments to the original report and apply it without spending a huge amount of money. This also saves a lot of time and hassle.

A Quantity Surveyor Has Not Inspected the Property:

This can be a little tricky to handle. In this case, a property owner needs to contact a quantity surveyor for a thorough inspection of the property as soon as possible. The rationale behind it is to prepare a property report in a timely manner. When one fails to complete this quickly, it can land one into various complicated circumstances.

If you repair an asset, you can claim the deduction of the expense for it, irrespective of whether you have insured your property. The capital allowance values and the individual depreciable asset will need adjustments for the replacement of insured properties. For uninsured properties, the residual value of the replaced asset will cease to exist and forecasting of depreciation of new asset will follow.

What Should An Owner Do to Get the Right Depreciation Rate for Their Property?

The extent of ATO depreciation rates varies from case to case, depending on the kind of damage from a natural disaster.
In order to understand the ATO guidelines, it is important to gain an in-depth knowledge of various aspects related to filing the Australian tax return. You need to reach out to an expert for information about the scope of maximizing the future, present of previous depreciation claims.

Conclusion:

The preparation of the property report according to the ATO guidelines is your best bet to claim the depreciation expenses in your tax return with success. Unless you are an expert in this field, you should avoid taking it on your own. It makes a lot of sense to assign the task to a qualified professional with years of experience in this connection. This will help you to be on the safe side and prevent the possibility of getting into any legal issue.

How Common Property Assets Can Supercharge Your Upfront Deductions

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It is pertinent that investors are aware of all of their entitlements. One of such is an entitlement to claim against a unit you own in the ambit of a complex. You can make this claim premised upon your share of the ownership.

This yield on investment property is most commonly denoted in form of a unit entitlement.

It is usually reflected on the strata plan of the owner or upon the plans of subdivision. You can measure this entitlement to claim per lot and then a summation of all the lots.

Unit Entitlement: Explained

Let’s understand this by analysing an example. So let’s assume that unit entitlement of a person is (say) 60 and the aggregate of all the lost come down to 800. Then, by this, we can deduce that the person has a 7.5% claim over the commonly owned assets.

In a typical example, per unit claim gets smaller in case there are larger developments involved. However, this small percentage can contribute considerably to the claim. That’s how Deppro Perth works. The two basic and very common headings under depreciation are the structure of the building and the assets of the plant.

Importance of Common Area Deductions in the Depreciation Schedule

Undeniable claims can be derived through the construction value of common areas when looking at the structure of the building alone. Building tax depreciation can be filed for returns. For instance, if one particular unit of your property has a construction cost of approximately $100,000, but the additional detailing done to it like pools, floors, gyms etc. can add up to thousands or even millions of dollars.

The real impact of the common area deductions can be traced on the assets mainly associated with plants and equipment. Numerous assets are usually left unnoticed such as fire alarms, fans used for ventilation, carpets, lifts, etc. All these carry huge investment amounts which can be tax deductible.

Even an air conditioning plant that holds a value of millions of dollars will give out a single unit entitlement of a couple of thousand dollars to the investor because of the deduction that occurred across years. Thus, an asset like air conditioners which carry high investment amounts is not actually which would provide you with considerable deduction. But, numerous other assets and equipment do promise complete depreciable value return to the investor annually.

How does it work?

This happens in a very logical manner. The assets or equipment which are of less than $301 and aren’t a member of any particular set, can be written off completely. An example of this can be taken of the door stoppers. Collectively when seen, the stoppers can cost over $25,000 but when the share of an individual investor is calculated, it’ll hardly reach up to $100. Other than this, some other common assets which are commonly used by the investors and thus fall under the category include motors, assets used for barbecue, fire extinguishers, sprinklers, treadmills, swimming pools, and their accessories etc. All of them are deductible immediately and can give you remarkably reduced taxable property.

Conclusion:

ATO property depreciation reduction can be experienced to a great extent by the common property. This is the major reason why units help you extract more deductions than houses generally. A fact to pay attention to is where the deduction is in the schedule. A large number of assets have a tendency of giving the deductions within the birth year of the ownership of the unit. This allows the investor to grab the advantage of improving his/her cash flow statements. Thus, a significant charge can be experienced in the upfront deductions of your common assets and their depreciation.

Live/work space; a niche going through a revival

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Business owners living above their shops is nothing new. From Europe to Asia, the likes of butchers, leather goods workers, and produce sellers have lived in apartments above their businesses. Australia is catching on (again), and work/live/play spaces are once again on the rise.

 

Why so slow on the uptake?

Zoning is the major issue. One roadblock that stops business owners from living above their workspace is that their business property is in a commercial zone, not a residential one.

In Australia, there are four major zones: commercial, residential, industrial, and agricultural. There are subzones within each category. The live/work way of life was a lot simpler before zoning laws came into the mix. But it can be done, as seen in the example below.

 

Habitat

Byron Bay is known for its creative spirit. It’s the home of artists, designers, chefs, and those who have turned their craft into a living. Rather than commute to work, Habitat offers established businesses and start-ups the opportunity to live and work within walking distance. In this case, right downstairs.

Developer Brendan Saul saw the gap for an affordable, sustainable live and work space. Habitat was inundated with enquiries and officially opened its doors in late 2017 and hosts the likes of florists, clothing retailers, cafes, restaurants, and gyms. It opened a communal workspace in 2018.

It is possible

Governments have also gotten on the live/work trend, providing affordable living spaces for creatives and entrepreneurs wanting to take risks.

When you decide to take the plunge and invest in a live/work space, make sure you reach out to a professional. Brokers and real estate agents will have the zoning knowledge and will guide you through the process of building your own space, if you so desire, to lease.

 

Get more advice below:

Ideal tenants for a commercial property

Read this to improve the cash flow from your rental property

Read this to increase the value of your commercial investment property

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Those who foray into the commercial investment property sphere know the benefits it can bring. Longer tenancy agreements, high rental returns, and fewer expenses, as opposed to residential investments, are among some of the benefits. But if you’re interested in boosting the perceived value of your space to tenants, consider these.

 

Parking

This is a first-world problem that wastes worker’s time in the morning when all they want to do is get to the office on time.

Websites like Parkhound enable landlords to hire out car spaces. Undercover, on the street, and on a monthly basis. Including this in the rent will attract tenants looking for value and convenience.

Cleaning

Restaurants do it, offices do it, and you can do it as well. Nothing brings a smile to someone first thing in the morning and seeing the floors are freshly vacuumed and new trash bags in the bin.

When you’re doing up a contract with a cleaning company, make a list of items that need to be checked off with every visit. It can be something as simple as wiping down the desks or more detailed tasks like cleaning the fridge/microwave.

 

Appliances

If your commercial investment property is a cafe/restaurant space, adding high-end appliances will kill two birds with one stone. You’ll attract tenants who want the amenities, and you’ll get more from your tax depreciation schedule. Good quality appliances such as microwaves, ovens, espresso machines, and fridges will cost you a bit, but they’ll result in a nice tax return.

 

Light

Nobody works in shoe boxes or cubicles anymore. If you’re a landlord for a commercial office, highlight the open-plan space, including floor-to-ceiling windows. They don’t need to be that big, but easy access to natural light and placing desks near them will have the employees competing for ‘the best desk in the house’. Humans instinctively seek out nature, like sunlight. It’s known to boost employee well-being and all around satisfaction during the day.

Tech

We live in a connected world and humans are drawn to free wifi as much as natural light! Get several wifi routers, good aircon, a security system, and lots of outlets for future tenants to plug in their devices. Running out of battery is a 21st century nightmare.

 

We support self-education

Read this before using your investment property as an Airbnb

Depreciation rules for your rental property | Articles from around the web

Rentvesting: a forgotten way to own and rent at once

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You’re serious about getting into the investment game even though you don’t have a home in your own name. Fortunately, this isn’t an obstacle. Investing in property whilst renting at the same time, or ‘rentvesting’, made a splash early last year. It’s still going strong, despite getting less coverage in the headlines.

 

Why is rentvesting so popular?

There’s a number of things that make renting a more viable option among investors and people house-hunting in general.

 

Freedom: The word ‘mortgage’ scares the skin off lots of people and they can’t face the idea of juggling multiple home loans at once. It’s easier to sink their money and effort into their investment. Investors can give their full attention to the investment properties they own, like organising renovations, speaking with property managers, and organising depreciation inspections.

 

Postcode envy: So you can’t afford to own a home in that ‘happening’ and ‘ritzy’ suburb. But there’s enough in your budget to rent. You can rent where you want to live and then buy property in outlying suburbs. You can rent that fancy inner-city apartment but rent out a three-bedroom house to a family a few suburbs over.

Money: Investors who live in a rental home don’t have double the amount of taxes and duties that come with  owning an investment property and their own home. And there’s plenty of benefits that come with renting out a property for investment purposes. Tax deductions cover real estate advertising, some legal costs, and general maintenance. The amount of money earned back in tax depreciation will increase the longer the investor owns a property.

As a rentvestor you have more financial freedom

 

Rentvesting is a way for first-time investors to get on that first rung of the property ladder. Prices are increasing on the market but living the rental life has eliminated this affordability problem for some. Those who rentvest get the freedom, the bragging rights, and the money back that other property owners miss out on.

 

Need more advice? Read on…

  1. What $500,000 can buy you in the 2017 property market
  2. Don’t make these 6 mistakes if you want the best property investment possible

3 real estate strategies to build the ultimate portfolio

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Commercial, residential, apartments, houses, duplexes; the potential in real estate is endless. There’s different real estate strategies that investors can use for any of the above. Each approach has its pros, cons, and methods that will build your portfolio into something amazing.

 

Commercial property

There’s more differences between commercial and residential real estate than just the name. When placing a deposit on a commercial property, expect to put down up to 30% of the settlement price. You’ll also need a tenant that guarantees income no matter how competitive the market.

Lots of work goes into researching commercial real estate. Investors must look at demographics, market potential, spending habits of residents, and the like to make sure they get the best return. When the tenant signs the lease, the contract will last a long time compared to a residential one. Think between three and ten years.

 

Capital growth

You put a lot of work into finding a good piece of real estate, so it should work for you in return. Capital growth means you hold onto the home for a while, expecting it to make a nice profit when the time comes to sell. The resale price is affected thanks to area profile like access to schools, public transport and shopping.

Investors using this strategy must have patience if they want to see the benefits. Working a depreciation schedule into this will also help you net a larger profit. When the building depreciates, so does the cost base. Lower cost base (aka lower worth at resale) means less capital gains tax to pay.

 

Surrounding suburbs

It’s oh so tempting to buy in a capital city, but it costs more money and there’s often too much competition. The Australian apartment glut means investors are snapping up properties in bulk, almost suffocating each other in one suburb or just one building.

Popular growth areas aren’t just suburbs in the city. Regional, outlying real estate is great for negative gearing, with the eventual goal of a profit at resale. This is because investors see the potential in the homes and the general area and have the patience to wait for the right time to sell.

How your depreciation schedule give you bragging rights

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Having a depreciation schedule isn’t anyone’s idea of a ‘must-have accessory’ but it pays off in more ways than one. Seasoned investors and business owners with several properties under their belts know well the bragging rights they’re afforded when they’ve got the depreciation schedule in their hands.

 

It’s less work
Tax time is the bane of most people’s existence . Organising account information, making sure expenses are correct and the like is a pain if you’re not organised. When you own investment properties, or brick-and-mortar stores, the amount of work increases substantially.

This is where the depreciation report comes in. After the quantity surveyor does their walk through and the company mails you the report, a large bulk of the tax reporting for those properties is complete. You don’t have to triple-check bills or receipts for a long time unless you do renovations.

 

It lasts for a LONG time
Ordering a depreciation report isn’t an annual task. It’s valid for the lifetime of the property. Companies like Deppro create reports that last forty years, so you’re set for life, or at least as long as you have the homes/shops in your portfolio.

This means, though, you must act quickly. As soon as you settle the deal with the real estate agent, get the depreciation experts in to assess. They prefer to see everything in the condition you bought it to make an accurate report. If the previous owners made renovations, then that’s a bonus as you’re eligible to claim their work in the report!

 

More (money) for you
The biggest bragging right of all? You’re paying less tax! Because you got the depreciation report done and passed off to your accountant in record time, there’s more money flowing back to you come tax time.

Fun fact: the fee for ordering the depreciation schedule is deductible.

A depreciation report isn’t glamorous, but its benefits are worth their weight in the size of your tax return. You can feel a little smug having less work on your plate organising expenses. Your accountant has the report, and you have the time to run your business.