The most dramatic change to property depreciation legislation in more than 15 years was passed in Parliament last Wednesday.
Treasury Laws Amendment (Housing Tax Integrity) Bill 2017 have now been legislated as part of May 9, 2017 Federal Budget proposed amendments relating to plant and equipment deductions.
These changes affect property owners who purchased previously-owned residential properties after 7.30pm on the 2017 Federal Budget night.
Property investors will be ineligible to claim depreciation on plant and equipment assets, such as air conditioning units, solar panels or carpet, however they will still be able to claim depreciation for plant and equipment assets they purchase and directly incur an expense on.
The good news is, there has been no change to capital works deductions, meaning there are still thousands of dollars able to be claimed by Australian property investors.
Capital works deductions include claims available for the structure of a building and fixed assets such as doors, basins, windows or retaining walls – these deductions typically make up between 85 to 90 percent of an investor’s total claimable amount.
A large percentage of investors will be unaffected by the legislative changes, however it is important for investors to understand how this affects their individual circumstances.
For further information and clarification on how this affects your investments please contact Ulton’s Tax Advisory team on 07 4154 0400.
Please read the Fact Sheet on Tax Depreciation Changes for Australian Property Owners.