New legislation introduced from 1st July 2017 has property investors no longer claiming rental property travel expenses. This includes for the purposes of:
- collecting rent from tenants
- conducting property inspections
- preparing the property for new tenants
- rectifying repairs caused by damage or general wearage
- maintenance services including cleaning or landscaping
These legislative changes to travel expenses affect up to 2 million landlords Australia wide. Many of them negatively geared.
There are a few entities excluded from the new rules:
- a corporate tax entity
- a superannuation plan that is not a self-managed superannuation fund
- a public unit trust
- a managed investment trust
- a unit trust or a partnership, members of which are entities of a type listed above
These new changes still allow you to claim a tax deduction should you pay a third party to conduct services on your behalf. Three good examples are landscapers, painters and property managers. You can claim the cost of a landscaper attending to your property to tidy your garden, you can claim the maintenance costs for a painter to paint the interior of your property, while a property manager’s expenses can me claimed for conducting property inspections.
Now is a good time to consult your accountant or tax agent to learn more about these legislative changes to travel expenses. They can also provide advise to suit your circumstances.
While we have taken care to ensure the information above is true and correct at the time of publication, changes in circumstances and legislation after the displayed date may impact the accuracy of this article. If you want to learn more please contact us. We welcome the opportunity to assist you.
February 2019
