Property Depreciation – Benefits your Bottom Line


Depreciation is something that benefits your bottom line when it will be tax time. Many would take the time to claim the depreciation of their investment property against their taxable income. In some way, it can apply to claiming wear and tear on a car you bought and used for income-producing purposes.

Seasoned property owners usually would take depreciation into account before they buy anything for their next investment. It is also applicable to anyone who purchases a property of income-producing purposes. They are entitled to depreciate the building and the items therein against the assessed income.

Depreciation on property

Basically, this is a tax break that allows investors to offset their investment property’s decline in value from their taxable income. Australian tax laws lets investors claim tax deductions on both the decline of value of their building structure and the items permanently fixed to that property.

Also allowed is the decline in value of plant and equipment assets found inside it. This helps the taxpayer pay less taxes, it is also considered non-cash deductions. This would mean that the taxpayer need not pay for them on an ongoing basis. 

The deductions are built into the purchase price of that property. (All other deductions need to be paid on an ongoing basis.)

With regards to age, if your residential property was built after July 1985, you can claim your depreciation. Commercial and industrial properties are subject to varying cut-off dates.

Quantity surveyors

Accordingly, only quantity surveyors are appropriately qualified to estimate the construction costs when those costs are unknown. While accountants can offer general advice on other aspects of tax depreciation, they are not qualified to do estimates on property construction needing highly technical expertise.

Quantity surveyors are considered specialists in the accurate measurement construction costs. They have the education, experience and training to provide reliable figures with which property tax depreciation is based.

Your trained quantity surveyor will ensure that all depreciable items are noted and photographed. This is a guarantee that you won’t miss out on any deductions. In the event of audit, the documentation can be used as evidence.

It’s very common for quantity surveyors to liaise directly with the tenant or property manager in order to cause minimal disruption to the tenant. The best time to get a quantity surveyor to inspect your property is immediately after settlement and hopefully just before the tenant has moved in.

Costs

The cost of preparing your tax Brisbane property depreciation schedule varies according to several factors, including the type of property you have already bought, its location and size.

Most of the leading quantity surveyors offer a money back guarantee to save you twice your fee in the first year, or they give you the report for free.

Differences

Every property is different and there are many factors that must be considered when preparing a property deprecation schedule. Also, there are many depreciation calculators on the market which anyone can pick out for use.

The schedule of your Brisbane property depreciation will take approximately 2-3 weeks to complete, depending on the time that the quantity surveyor can inspect your property without delay.

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