FAQs
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In order to complete a Depreciation Schedule for your investment property Write It Off will firstly assess your property by means of a detailed property inspection.
We are happy to arrange this inspection through the managing agent for the property or directly with you or your tenants.
We will need the following information from you:
Purchase (settlement) date and the date the property became ‘available for rent’
Cost and purchase date of any item you have purchased since owning the property
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Thorough Analysis of your property.
Years of industry experience.
Comprehensive Depreciation Report to maximise your tax claim.
Increased net cash return on your investment.
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You will receive an electronic copy and full hard copy document (upon request for an additional fee of $15.00) that includes details of all assets we identified for depreciation, original construction cost, Plant & Equipment as well as any capital costs incurred over the life of the property. The report is calculated over the next 40 years from the date available for rent and provided in two methods, Prime Cost & Diminishing Value. At the back of each method is a summary page with a total figure for each year for the next 40 years that clearly states what the total depreciation claim is for that year.
We prepare and present the schedule in an easy to read format making it easy for your Accountant or Tax Adviser to use when preparing your tax return.
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Property investors use the depreciation schedule in calculating and forecasting potential cash flow gains available through maximising the taxation allowance available on their investment property.
Buyers of investment property refer to the depreciation information in estimating potential gains of their purchase.
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Certain cut off dates apply for depreciation claims relating to property investment.
As a general rule any investment building, irrespective of age, may attract a claim for depreciation of the plant and equipment items.
In order to depreciate the original construction or any subsequent additions / renovations the property must meet the construction date guidelines.
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This law was passed through parliament 15/11/17 and takes effect from 1/7/17.
First thing to know is that if you entered into the contract to purchase your property on or before 9/5/17 then the old rules apply and nothing changes. You can still claim all the depreciation benefits as before. Existing rental property owners are not effected and can continue on as before if property was used for rental purposes on or before 1/7/17. Also, these changes do not effect the purchase of brand new properties purchased for income producing purposes eg: rental properties.
The change only effects properties that have been used previously to obtain a benefit either from the existing or previous owners. Examples:
Existing owner has lived in the property before making it a rental property.
Previous owner lived in property or used property as rental property. i.e: it is now a 2nd hand property.
New legislation now means that a new owner of a 2nd hand residential investment property can no longer depreciate plant and articles owned or installed by previous owners. This applies to property contracts entered into from 9/5/17. However any new plant and articles assets installed by a new owner of a rental property can be depreciated. This change is to stop the potential of multiple owners depreciating the same asset several times over. This applies even if an asset was installed just prior to sale and is virtually still brand new. In this case the rule still applies and no deduction would be allowed for the new owner.
The original construction cost (if built after 16/9/87) and any subsequent expenditure on capital works assets (eg: updated kitchen) can still be claimed regardless of who paid for or installed them. This has always been the largest part of any depreciation claim for a residential investment property and therefore despite changes bought about in the 2017 budget it is very worth while having a Write It Off deprecation report done on your property. The Depreciation Tax benefits are still massively substantial. Our evidence suggest the claim is still 70 – 90% of what you could have claimed under the pre 2017 budget rules.
Additionally, the government is allowing you to treat any lost depreciation under the new rules as a capital loss to help reduce any potential future capital gains tax. Write It Off will supply this information in a separate schedule if your property falls under the 15/11/17 property depreciation legislation changes.
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Yes. The cost of obtaining an estimate of construction costs of a rental property by an appropriately qualified person is deductible in the year it is incurred.
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Many investors are unsure if it is worthwhile getting a depreciation report done on an older property. They worry about this when the property is older than the Capital Works deduction deadline of 17 September 1987. Prior to this date, residential property investors are unable to claim for the original cost of constructing the property. However they are forgetting 2 very important points that they need to consider.
Almost all older properties have had some sort of renovation or upgrade done to them to improve the property. This could be a new kitchen, upgrade to the properties electrical or plumbing, a new pergola or even a complete refurbishment. All these sorts of upgrades and many more can form part of the capital works deduction and make a significant difference to your depreciation claim.
If you don’t get a report done then you can claim nothing for depreciation (except for new purchases where you hold a receipt) as your accountant or tax adviser is not legally able to calculate the value of any tax deductible items that forms part of your property. A firm such as Write It Off is legally qualified and experienced to maximise and calculate the depreciation deductions that are available to you.
As a general guide, approximately $40,000 of capitals works assets must exist or less if the new owner has installed some new plant and article assets. For example, if the new owner spends $2,000 on blinds and $670 on a new dishwasher then only $20,000 in previous owners’ capital works expenditure would be required to make this a worthwhile exercise.
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If you are still unsure, then what about our guarantee! We will assess your situation and decide if it is worthwhile. If we can’t get 2 times the cost of the report in the first full year of depreciation, then we promise that we will do the report for free. So, what have you got to lose, not only will you get to claim our fee as a tax deduction but also at least twice that fee again as another fully legitimate tax claim.
So even if your property is 30, 50 or 100 years old it is nearly always financially worthwhile getting a professional tax depreciation report performed by Write It Off on your property.
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Report comes in an easy to read format spanning a period of 40 years from the date the property first becomes “available for rent” labelled and addressed to the owners of the property.
All pricing listed on this website is in Australian dollars and includes GST.
Prices listed do not include shipping for a full hard copy document through Australia Post. Additional charges apply. Standard delivery is an emailed electronic copy of your report. If you require us to ship to an address outside of Australia, please contact our customer service team on info@writeitoff.com.au to obtain a price in this instance.
Reports are compiled to the highest standards and comply with all relevant Australian Tax Office legislation.
We do not offer refunds however if for any reason you are unhappy with the report provided, all endeavours will be made by our company to rectify any concerns you may have.
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Write It Off is dedicated to keeping your details private. Any information, we collect in relation to you, is kept strictly secured. We use this information to identify your orders and provide you with personalised service. We do not pass on/sell/swap any of your personal details with anyone. Write It Off does not use cookies. We do not store persistent cookies on your computer.
Whenever you use our web site, or any other web site, the computer on which the web pages are stored (the Web server) needs to know the network address of your computer so that it can send the requested web pages to your Internet browser. The unique network address of your computer is called its “IP address,” and is sent automatically each time you access any Internet site. From a computer’s IP address, it is possible to determine the general geographic location of that computer, but otherwise it is anonymous. We do not keep a record of the IP addresses from which users access our site.
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When purchasing from Write It Off your financial details are passed through a secure server using the latest 128-bit SSL (secure sockets layer) encryption technology. 128-bit SSL encryption is approximated to take at least one trillion years to break, and is the industry standard. If you have any questions regarding our security policy, please contact our customer support centre info@writeitoff.com.au
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