Because the ATO is too conservative, they will probably say as a guide you should have 10+ properties or something. I know they are free of course whereas I would have to pay an accountant to work this out for me. I have completed my personal tax returns myself up until now but its just started getting interesting now. We did some travelling last fin year trying to source our third investment property, which will settle in a couple of months. So I will be hiring an accountant who specialises in property investment over the next few weeks to get my structure right before settlement and probably do my future returns as it will probably involve trusts so will be more complex. So I’m not against paying for good avice and a good accountant (in fact I highly recommend it for most circumstances, not just someone who adds up your receipts, but someone who will provide good advice and they are not cheap), just hoping to get by for one more personal tax return on my own while I’m small enough. Plus even if you have a good accountant, it can still pay to be educated yourself. My investment resources have only been small until this year so it didn’t bother me where I put it on my return previously.