What is a Property Tax Depreciation Schedule?

Depreciation itself means that the values of particular assets decrease over time because of constant usage (wear and tear). Tax depreciation schedules are documents that list all of these assets and their respective decline in value. Property investors can then use this data to claim their annual income tax returns. Essentially, an income tax depreciation report helps you reduce your taxable income and claim tax deductions on your investment property.

Sample Tax Depreciation Schedule
Tax Depreciation Schedules

An Australian tax depreciation schedule is usually calculated by determining the original construction cost of the building and the cost of property plant and equipment assets.

A residential tax depreciation schedule, for example, might show that the original construction cost for a house was $250,000. The depreciation deductions are separated into two categories:

  1. Division 43: Capital Works/Building Allowance
  2. Division 40: Plant and Equipment

Let’s say the Capital Works Allowance component makes up $220,000 of the $250,000 total cost. This includes structural elements, such as roofing, shower screens or windows. Investors are eligible to claim this cost at 2.5% per annum.

The plant and equipment component will form the other $30,000 portion of the total cost and include the cooktop, exhaust fans, window curtains, etc. These depreciable assets typically depreciate faster based on their effective lives.

Why are tax depreciation schedules required?

Tax Depreciation Schedules

A rental property depreciation report is required by law if you want to reduce the taxable income on your investment property through depreciation. You are not allowed to estimate the construction costs yourself. Furthermore, you would wish to engage a qualified quantity surveying organisation to do your tax depreciation.

Washington Brown was founded in 1978, which makes it one of the oldest, most respected quantity surveying organisations in Australia.

Moreover, once you schedule a tax depreciation consultation with us, our quantity surveyors will determine if an inspection is required for your investment property and organise it as fast as possible.

Our property depreciation schedules are based on three crucial pillars:

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Not understanding the importance and positive outcomes of a QS carrying out the report. Back to top

    There are little things that can make a big difference to your deductions. For example we start your report from the settlement date, (other companies) do a generic full year so you are pro-rating items under $300 and Low pooled items by how long you own them. This is incorrect and the items should be claimed at 100% and 18.75% whether you own them for 1 day or 365 days of the 1st year.

     

    Tax Depreciation Schedules for Rental Property

  • Worried your proceeding with a report that might not be worthwhile? Back to top

    The initial stage of the report process involves our team looking over the information received and reviewing whether or not it’s worth your while. Our mission is to provide our clients with a good return on their investment and be satisfied with the result. Our guarantee to you is if we don’t save you twice our fee in the first year, your report will be FREE.

  • Information on the rental property too hard to get your hands on? Back to top

    That’s fine, simply provide the information that is available to you and leave the rest for the expertise of our customer service team and qualified QS to find the information for you e.g. RP data. Any uncertainties, one of our Quantity Surveyors will personally discuss with you.

  • Why can’t a QS estimate renovation work if the costs are known? Back to top

    It is an ATO requirement that if the costs ARE KNOWN then the information must be provided. In the case where you cannot provide the information (as we know everyone’s situation is different), we ask you provide the renovations details best to your knowledge.

  • Washington Brown seems too expensive compared to cheaper companies Back to top

    In a sense, it’s like using the cheapest builder, or the cheapest accountant. We send out qualified staff and try and get you every legitimate deduction you are entitled to. We are ATO compliant and in the short term you might be saving a few hundred dollars though in the long term you could be missing out on thousands of dollars which YOU are entitled to, simply because we are good at what we do.

  • My Rental Property is really old – how can there still be depreciation left to claim? Back to top

    A misconception is that if the rental property is older than 1987, an investor can not claim any depreciation. The tax deductions are higher on a newer rental property but are still available on most investment properties due to the renovations on older properties that’s allowed to be claimed.

  • How far can you backdate your tax? Back to top

    Yes you can backdate up to 2 years from the last time you submitted your last tax return.

  • Can you claim on renovations that have been carried out by previous owners? Back to top

    Yes – when inspecting the rental property, we take into account all renovations that may have been carried out to the property and then estimate for the depreciation you are eligible to claim for.

  • Can you claim depreciation on an overseas property? Back to top

    No matter where your property is in the world, you can claim depreciation if you are an Australian tax payer. We have serviced such countries as New Zealand, USA, Indonesia, UK.

  • Why use a Quantity Surveyor to prepare my tax depreciation schedule and not an Accountant? Back to top

    As stated in the Tax Ruling 97/25 issue by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), your accountant is not allowed to prepare a tax depreciation schedule if the property is newer than 1987. If older, they can carry out the report, though at what expense? They will not be inspecting your rental property and you may miss out on major deductions which we can guarantee, as Quantity Surveyors we make sure you claim every cent you are eligible to.

Get a quote for a property tax depreciation schedule on your rental property – or use our complimentary property tax depreciation calculator to work out your potential cash flow tax saving.

Washington Brown’s fee is 100% Tax Deductible.

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