Make sure you don’t miss out on these two tips to get your property working for you this tax return.
- Working from home expenses
For the first time ever a whole army of Aussie workers have been doing their jobs from home as part of Australia’s pandemic response.
Aside from the joy of wearing ugg boots to work, the other benefit you gain from having a pop-up home office is the ability to claim certain expenses as deductions.
This year the Australian Tax Office has introduced a special work-from-home short cut to make it simpler for us time poor mere mortals to claim back some tax dollars.
This allows you to claim a deduction of 80 cents for each hour you worked from home from 1 March to 30 June 2020. You can read more at the ATO website.
- Investment property expenses
For many landlords, the property market and rental prices have remained resilient. But landlords hit by drops in tourism and international students could be facing some rental uncertainty. If you’re suddenly sizing up a cash flow concern, then talk to your account about a PAYG withholding variation. Under this arrangement, you essentially receive your tax breaks every time you’re paid – i.e. your employer takes out less tax so you take home more pay. This is a cash flow friendly alternative to receiving a lump sum tax cheque at the end of the financial year. Also, if you pay land tax and have been affected by rental drops due to COVID then make sure you check out the Queensland Government coronavirus land tax relief measures.
Got some pencil sharpening to do with your own property portfolio? Contact us for a chat or talk to us about landlording.
