The most common misconception about negative gearing

The most common misconception about negative gearing is that it allows you to reclaim the entire shortfall between rental income and expenses from your tax bill. The reality is that only a proportion of the above-mentioned losses can be claimed, in line with your marginal tax rate. So if you pay tax at 30 per cent, you can claim …

Can I claim tax deduction for a special levy the body corporate imposed?

Question: I recently bought my first investment property, there was an extra $2000 special levy charged by the body corporate to repaint the whole building. I presume it falls under repair and maintenance so it is tax deductible, right? Answer: As the building was in need of a repaint when you purchased the investment property, …

Can I claim tax deduction for the expenses happened before the property was rented out?

Question: I recently bought my first investment property in April 2010. Unfortunately it wasn’t rented out until early July. I wonder if I can still negative gear anything (claim tax deductions) for the period that the property was vacant though I received no rental income? Answer: Although you didn’t get any rental income for the …

Can we claim tax deductions when renting out primary residence?

Question: We are moving interstate and own a property with a $300,000 mortgage that we would like to keep as an investment property.  I would like to know: (1) Is it true that if we keep this as our primary residence we won’t pay capital gains tax if we sell within six years. (2) Can we claim tax deductions connected with …

Should negative gearing be blamed for house price inflation in Australia?

Tax Watch convenor Julian Disney says negative gearing should be blamed for house price inflation in Australia. “I think one of the major causes of the house price inflation is the tax system,” he said, referring to negative gearing that allows investors to write off the costs of their interest payments and the concessional capital gains …

What rental expenses that I can claim for an immediate deduction?

Expenses for which you may be entitled to an immediate deduction in the income year you incur the expense include: *advertising for tenants * bank charges * body corporate fees and charges * cleaning * council rates * electricity and gas * gardening and lawn mowing * in-house audio/video service charges * insurance – building – …

What rental expenses that I cannot claim for tax deductions?

Rental expenses for which you are not able to claim deductions include: * acquisition and disposal costs of the property * expenses not actually incurred by you, such as water or electricity charges borne by your tenants * expenses that are not related to the rental of a property, such as expenses connected to your …

Google shows in 2009 more and more Australians are interested in buying investment property

A research done using Google Insights shows that in 2009 the “investment property” search volume trended up for the first time since 2004. Here is the chart since 2004 and the prejection for 2010 (click on the chart to see the full size image). As you can see that since 2004 the search volume of …

What investment property expenses can I claim as TAX deductions?

In order to maximize your total tax deductible amount at the end of the financial year for a property that’s negatively geared, there’s a range of expenses that can be included in the total annual cost of the property for deduction purposes. 1. Prepaid expenses It’s possible to claim any prepaid expenses that are related …