Investor questions leading up to June 30
One look at the calendar will tell you that June 30th is now just a matter of weeks away. Whilst that is an important date for every taxpayer in Australia, it is even more important for those readers who own a rental property.
Here at Barry Plant Gladstone Park, we are proud to assist a large number of Rental Providers, (or landlords as we used to know them), in the management of their investment, and whilst we are certainly not here to provide taxation advice, there are a couple of points we’d like to remind investors of before we hit the end of the tax year.
For example:
- Make sure you get advice from your tax advisor BEFORE June 30th. There may be steps you can take that will impact your return this financial year, rather than having to wait another twelve months if you leave it until July.
- Make sure you understand the difference between expenditure on repairs and maintenance, versus improvements. One is an immediate deduction, one is not.
- If you have a property that is only rented out for part of the year, such as a holiday home for example, make sure you keep accurate records of what proportion of the year it was available for rent, as opposed to being used by your and your family.
Points like these are important as the ATO has said that rental properties will be one of the areas they focus on in this year’s tax returns. In fact, the ATO Assistant Commissioner, Rob Thomson, was recently quoted as saying that as many as 9 out of 10 owners of rental properties are still getting their income tax returns wrong.
Of course, if you need any assistance with your current rental property in the lead-up to the end of the financial year, even if it’s an update on current rental returns to ensure you are getting the best possible returns, you can give our team at Barry Plant Gladstone Park a call this week on 9330 1088.
Cheers,
Bill Karp - Director
Barry Plant Real Estate
Gladstone Park