As we start to get used to double digit price growth in housing markets around Australia, it raises some questions for property investors about maximising deductions and minimising taxes. What better time to get yourself organised than at the beginning of the year and get yourself sorted with the right advice.
Three of the most confusing areas, but best opportunities for making money for property investors are;
- Capital Gains Tax
- Deductions
- Depreciation
Capital Gains Tax
Section 118 of the Income Tax Assessment Act deals with CGT… Yawwwwwn, I hear you say!!! OK, let’s cut to it, there’s heaps of ways to save on capital gains tax and it could eventually save you hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax- is that better?
But don’t listen to your mates BBQ advice and take it for gospel, it’s probably wrong, and make sure you get professional advice that’ll be ethical, legitimate and in your best interest. It can literally save you hundreds of thousands of dollars! Painless huh.
Deductions
The tax office gets all excited when calculating deductions so again it’s important to know which ones are legit and which ones might be knocked back. If you’re taking a holiday and driving past your investment property on the way to the beach, it’s unlikely you can claim your flights as a deduction. However, there’s plenty of other deductions that people often miss out on such as maximising your depreciation on the building and items in it.
Depreciation
Having a proper depreciation schedule performed on your property by a qualified quantity surveyor, who produces a depreciation schedule for your Accountant, can literally save you thousands of dollars in tax each year. It’s money for nothing and many property investors either forget about it or simply have their local accountant knock together a “best guess” schedule that rarely maximises your deductions.
If you want to save tax and maximise your assets, get a second opinion, just click below and I’d be happy to run a comparison for you to see if we can help.