As we head toward 30th June now is a great time for those of you holding investment property to get your affairs in order, so you can claim as much as possible in your tax return.
Now when it comes to property there are so many expenses you can claim.
There’s a pretty detailed list you can find on the ATO website, but as a guide, tax expenses fall in to three categories
First off there’s depreciation – on all of the fixtures and fittings and hopefully you’ve got a depreciation schedule in place, and if you don’t, its never too late- you should get one ASAP.
Then there’s the ongoing running expenses you can claim for such as management fees, council rates, strata levies, gardening, advertising for tenants, insurance, repairs and maintenance… the list goes on, and again, you can find them all easily on the ATO website.
Finally you can also claim the interest expense on your investment mortgage. Not only can you expense the interest from the past twelve months, but some lenders allow you to pre pay a years worth of interest in advance to turbo charge your tax refund.
You’ll be surprised how quickly these expenses add up to contribute to a healthy refund. It certainly makes it worthwhile being diligent with your record keeping!
That’s all for this week’s update- and as always if you have any questions please do get in touch.
