Blog

With a property market recovery underway, most notably in Sydney and Melbourne, Australian investors are once again pursuing their love affair with property investing. For many investors, a popular way to invest directly in residential or commercial property is through their self-managed super fund (SMSF). In fact, ATO statistics show property is the third most popular assetRead more

What is an ATO Clearance Certificate? There was a time when you sold property and you were an Australian resident you just claimed the 50% discount if you held the property for more than 12 months. You did not have to prove you were an Australian resident, you just self-assessed that you were an Australian resident.Read more

Like everyone you would like to have more money in your pocket, so you decide to rent out a room or even your whole house. You have heard about Airbnb and decide ‘What a great idea’. A bit of extra cash would come in handy! So, you think – I will pocket the extra moneyRead more

I’ve found in recent years there’s a bit to learn tuning into talk back radio. My switch from the FM to the AM started off as just wanting to catch some footy news and avoid the repeated songs that are played to death on mainstream radio, but now I find myself engaged in talks onRead more

In the announcement of the Federal Budget on 9 May, the government announced some changes to residential rental property deductions that had the aim of improving housing affordability by making investing in a rental property a little less attractive. These changes relate to travel expenses, which will no longer be allowable deductions, and depreciation, whichRead more

The Difference between Joint Tenancy and Tenancy in Common I recently had an appointment with a client who had a new property and they asked if they needed to include it in their tax return. The client owned it with a sibling and that sibling lived in the house with their partner, while my clientRead more

Tax consequences of making money in the share economy A little while ago I was preparing the tax return of a client and had almost (I thought) completed it when the client told me that they use Airbnb to rent out a room of their home to travelers and asked if that mattered. Yes, asRead more

MAIN RESIDENCE EXEMPTION Have you sold your home or looking at selling your home and unsure of the tax consequences? Can the main residence exemption be applied to reduce and/or remove the Capital Gains Tax on the sale? What is it? The main residence exemption applies to a taxpayer’s dwelling that was owned by anRead more

SUBDIVIDING PROPERTY AVOID UNNECESSARY TAX I was with a friend a while back and we were reminiscing of the good old days kicking a footy in his parent’s back yard.  Occasionally one of us would be a little too overzealous trying to impersonate Gary Abblett Snr and the ball would fly over the back fence.Read more

Negative gearing Negative gearing has been called a lot of things in the media lately… A tax break A party A rort Out of control It shows no sign of abating either. On the lead up to the Federal Budget, TV personalities like Waleed Aly throwing his opinion into the mix, and whole issue wasRead more