Thanks Scott No Mates,

Not the same agency, cant proove it, and about 4 weeks.

IMO, it doesnt matter whether the agent knew, they are after all, just the owner’s agent, making a contract on the owner’s behalf. If the owner knew and the agent didnt, that’s “innocent misrepresentation”… enough to rescind a contract.

Your negative taxable income does accrue, so if your away for 3 years, and your taxable income is -$4k a year. Then in the year you return your first (3years x $4k) + $15k = $27k taxable income will be tax free..

sorry catalyst, I hate to contradict you, but he is definitely entitled to claim a deduction for interest, rates, land tax, insurance and water charges, despite the property not being available to rent during the financial year.

I dont expect you to take my word for it.. so I’ll refer you to Ormiston’s…[Read more]

Hi Shwing

Your right on all counts..

you can claim interest, rates, borrowing costs & depreciation.

you cant claim the costs of repairs, however you can depreciate those costs which would be considered to be an improvement. Discerning between repairs and improvements can be tricky.. the ato website will be helpful there (believe it or…[Read more]

I understand what you mean about keeping the tenants happy.. good tenants are hard to find!

Paint is a tricky one.. According to the ATO the answer is “no”, because you painted before the property was rented.

That said, if the painting was only part of a range of activities which you carried out, and said activites could be seen to have…[Read more]

Plummer wrote:
I have 3 credit cards with $30k available of which I owe about $14k. Now, with this extra $4k that I am going to pull out, am I able to claim the interest back on this at tax time?

yes but its not as easy as it might seem at face value and your accountant wont be happy about it.. you’ll end up paying

Plummer wrote:
If the…[Read more]

The antennae is claimable…

as are any renovations you’ve done prior to the property being rented, its just that they need to be depreciated rather than claimed in full in the year of expense.

But you dont need to depreciate the antennae. That said, I have no idea why, but they’re usually considered to be owned by the tenant, ie: the tennant…[Read more]

Heheh.. obviously the proper answer to that is:
“no its not legal”

but if I wasn’t me I’d say:
No its not legal to ask them, but if they do it then it’s a legal document (or will appear so anyway).

That said.. if its an improvement then the date wont matter so much because the cost will be depreciated during the time the property is rented…[Read more]

No evidence is required, you do not need to have mail sent to that address whilst it is a rental in order to claim the 6 year PPOR exemption extension.

To claim the extension, you simply elect to do so when the CGT event occurs, and prepare your capital gain calcs accordingly.

There’s some really good info…[Read more]

cataldop wrote:
Thanks Mr 5o1,My estimated CGT bill is $20 – $25K and based on the feedback I have recieved so far I'm not sure I can pay my tax bill from the LOC because based on what I have read in the past the ATO does not really consider property investing a business unless it is a persons main source of income.

sorry.. i didnt explain…[Read more]

aque wrote:
I assume stuff I bought years can still be depned if I employ a`quantity surveyor.  

Yes it can. But the schedule they provide you with will include the depreciation on any additions of your own.

ie: if you install a hot water system today, and a QS goes through tomorrow, the QS depn schedule will include depreciation on the HWS.…[Read more]

Q1. Yes.
Q2.
It can be depreciated also. if you buy a capital item ($1000) and install it today 9/8/10, live in the property until 9/11/10, and then rent it. Your depn for 2011 would be:
Using DimVal method, 8yrs useful life.
deductible portion 2011 = portion rented * 1st year depn = (234days / 326days) * ($1000 * 25%) = $160
deductible portion…[Read more]

I agree with Dan, the “home first used to produce income rule” does not apply, nor does the 6 year ppor extension. so its 10/13ths of the total gain.

Hi cataldop,

Matt’s right.. if your considered to be in business (more disadvantages than advantages IMO) then you could claim the interest, provided the money you borrow to pay it is indeed from your LOC, and not a separate loan.

CCH Master Tax Guide 16-856:
It has generally been accepted that interest on a loan taken out to pay personal income…[Read more]

jhjw wrote:
for CGT purposes are we better off moving to property 1 and using it as our PPOR and renting out property 2 and then moving back to property 2 while we're building property 1? Are we still liable for CGT for the 2 months that the tenants are living in property 1 after settlement anyway?Am very confused and would appreciate any…[Read more]

e-tax has changed slightly, There are 26 new items in the Individual form this year.. say hello to simplified income tax!

your spot on in that the income tests are probably the most relevant to you.. yes the “formulas” have changed. but not to any great extent.. the most likely change would be that your rental losses are now included in your…[Read more]

thats right.. currently, your not liable for the MC Levy Surcharge till your income is > $75k as an individual or joint income > $150k as a couple. in `08 and before the thresholds were $50k and $100k respectively.

Medicare Levy is a different storty, but the $560 amount looks like MCLS.

Hi Not so lucky..

In your case it will make absolutely no difference to the results of your tax return. Joint income is used for only a few calculations, medicare levy surcharge being one of them, but your both under the threshold for that whether you lodge as individuals or defacto.

You will need to get market value appraisals as at the date you moved out (back dated appraisals are fine) That value will be the cost base for your capital gain calculation. (sale price less market value when you moved out, will be total capital gain) You will be elligible for the 50% discount. a pro-rata (time based) calculation is not available…[Read more]

Hi fxtrader8,

your correct in that the last two items on your list or deductible against your rent income (along with a bunch of other things)

The only other item on your list which is deductible against the rent is Loan fees. Generally, fees which occur prior to your making the first repayment on the loan are considered borrowing costs. Which…[Read more]