The Tax Office has found that there are some landlords who may not be entirely sure about whether they are correctly claiming their property rental deductions. In particular, it has found that many property investors are making simple mistakes that could be avoided with little guidance.

There are some expenses that you will need to you deduct over a number of years as a landlord.

These can include:

Borrowing expenses – including loan establishment fees, title searches, costs for preparing and filing mortgage broker fees and stamp duty charged on the mortgage. If you take out an insurance policy to cover the loan in case you cannot meet repayments, these premiums are not deductable. Landlord insurance premiums can however be deducted.

Amounts for decline in the value of depreciating assets such as air conditioners, heaters, hot water systems, vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, clothes dryers, and so forth.

Capital works deductions – deductions for certain types of construction like the reconstruction of a garage destroyed by fire where work constitutes a structural improvement to the rental property.

The amount of time these expenses are spread across depends on the type of expense. For instance, a loan expenses is spread over the lessor of five years or the life of the loan under special rules. Assets that depreciate in value do so over their “effective” life and certain construction work deductions may spread across 40 years.

For information of all claimable and non – claimable rental property expenses, contact us for information on 3245 1466 or info@tbctax.com.au – we’re here to help!