As your Geelong Real Estate Agents, we like to ensure our investors are claiming all the essentials on their Geelong rental property. Tax time provides Geelong investors with the opportunity to ensure they are maximising their deductions.
As an investor, you are able to claim a wide range of expenses associated with your investment property. This also includes the fees you incur from us, your Geelong Property Management experts such as management fees, letting fees and advertising fees.
To help our Geelong investors we have compiled a list of some things you can claim as a tax deduction.
The Basics
When Geelong real estate agents, like us, put your rental properties on the market they become tax deductible investment properties. Really basic things such as cleaning fees, Geelong Council rates, gardening and lawn mowing, pest control, Geelong water charges, servicing costs (e.g. servicing a water heater), repairs and maintenance can be all be claimed as tax deductible. You can even claim the Geelong real estate agent’s advertising fee, which is used to attract tenants. Other claimable things include:
- Bank charges
- Body corporate fees and charges
- Building, contents and public liability Insurance
- Interest on loans
- Land tax
- Preparation, registration and stamp duty expenses for lease documents
- Legal expenses (excluding acquisition costs and borrowing costs)
- Mortgage discharge expenses
- Property manager fees and commissions (including those prior to the property being available to rent)
- Expenses incurred in attending property investment seminars to improve the performance of a current income-producing property
- Quantity surveyor’s fees
- Costs incurred in relocating tenants into temporary accommodation if the property is unfit to occupy for a period of time
- Cost of a defective building works report in connection to repairs and maintenance conducted
- Secretarial and bookkeeping fees
- Security patrol fees for your Geelong Rentals
- Stationery and postage (including fees charged by your property manager)
- Telephone calls and rental (in relation to your investment property)
- Tax-related expenses
- In-house audio and video service charges
What property investors can claim over several years
- Amounts for the decline in value of depreciating assets
- Capital works deductions
- Loan establishment fees
- Title search fees charged by your lender
- Costs for preparing and filing mortgage documents
- Mortgage broker fees
- Stamp duty charged on the mortgage
- Fees for a valuation required for loan approval
- Lender’s mortgage insurance billed to the borrower
What property investors can’t claim as a tax deduction on their Geelong rentals
As you can see there are many things that you can claim as a tax deduction for your Geelong rentals, but it important to note that there are also some things that can’t be claimed. And it is important that both the property owner and your Geelong real estate agent are informed. These include:
- Acquisition and disposal costs (although these may be added to your cost base when selling)
- Expenses not actually incurred by you, such as water or electricity usage charges borne by your tenants
- Expenses that are not related to the rental of a property, such as:
- Expenses connected to your own use of a holiday home that you rent out for part of the year
- Costs of maintaining a non-income producing property used as collateral for the investment loan
- Expenses incurred in relocating assets between rental properties prior to renting
- Travel expenses
- to rental seminars about helping you find a rental property to invest in
- to inspect a property before you buy it
- Travel expenses from the July 1, 2017 onwards
- to inspect a property you own
- for maintenance of an investment property
- for rent collection
So as tax time rolls in we hope that we’ve saved you some fuss around what is and isn’t considered tax deductible on your Geelong rental property.
If you’d like any more information Fresh Property or our property management services make sure to contact us.
