You Guide to Capital Gains & Depreciation Schedule Examples

All types of income producing properties have substantial taxation benefits available to be claimed as a tax credit. Many property investors are missing out on thousands of dollars in tax depreciation deductions. Both new and old properties will attract some depreciation benefit that the owner is able to claim as a tax credit. A common [...]

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) differentiates between repairs and improvements. To ensure the best results are obtained from an investment property, it is important to understand the difference between the two claim options. Definitions Deductible Repair: Returning items or property to their original state; an exercise in retaining the value of the item or property. [...]

Are you maximising your common property benefits? Common property refers to the areas within an apartment complex or development that are shared between owners. In general, common areas are designated areas of a building or land that are available for use by all occupants, tenants or owners. More complicated common areas exist whereby access to [...]

A: The low-value pool is an effective rule allowing an increased depreciation deduction available to most investment property owners. Any asset in a rental property which costs less than $1000 can be included in the low-value pool and written off at an accelerated rate of 18.75% in the first year of ownership and 37.5% each [...]

Q: What is low-value pooling? A: Low-value pooling is a way of depreciating plant items which cost less than $1000 or have an un-deducted cost of less than $1000. The following types of depreciable assets can be allocated to a low-value pool: Low-cost assets – A low-cost asset is a depreciable asset that has an [...]

When a tax depreciation report is prepared, your tax specialist should take into consideration any renovations carried out by previous owners. Even though you may not have carried out the work yourself, there may be depreciation deductions for you to claim. A thorough site inspection is undertaken on your property and further council searches can [...]

Effective lives – Explained The ‘effective life’ of an asset is used by a Quantity Surveyor to work out an asset’s decline in value. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) describes an effective life as ‘the period of time that a depreciating asset can be used by any entity to produce assessable income: assuming it will [...]

The final Taxation Ruling issued on 24 June 2009 concerns the effective life of depreciating assets. This ruling replaced Taxation Ruling TR 2008/4 from July 1, 2009. Determinations of the effective life of certain depreciating assets made by the Commissioner are contained in two tables in the ruling which can be found on the ATO [...]

What can you do to increase your depreciation deductions? In order to maximise the tax benefit your investment property will attract, you will require the services of a recognised Quantity Surveyor with specific property tax depreciation skills and experience. To ensure you claim all your entitled depreciation deductions a site inspection will need to be [...]

Depreciating asset Effective life in years Carpets – in commercial office buildings 8 – in ten-pin bowling centres 4 -Computers -generally 4 -laptops 3 Curtains and drapes 6 Fire extinguishers 15 Hot water installations for commercial office buildings (excluding commercial boilers and piping)15 Lawn mower- motor 62/3 – self-propeled  5 Library (professional) 10 Motor vehicles [...]