Wednesday 20 April 2016

ARE YOU MAXIMISING YOUR RENTAL DEDUCTIONS?


If you own a rental property and you are not currently claiming capital works expense or depreciation expense you may be missing out on eligible deductions in your tax return.

Capital works and depreciation expenses spread the cost of capital assets across their useful life. Which means although you cannot claim an upfront deduction for new or current assets you can claim a proportion each year.

These deductions can significantly affect your taxable income and thus potentially reduce the amount of tax payable.

A Quantity Surveyor can inspect your property and provide a depreciation report. This report will detail potential deductions in this tax year and in years to come.

 Please contact Andrew Marshall or Janine Orpwood at Langley McKimmie Chartered Accountants on (03) 5427 8100 to discuss further.

We provide accounting and wealth management services to clients in WoodendGisborne and Macedon Ranges areas within Victoria Australia. 

Monday 11 April 2016

HECS, HELP AND TSL REPAYMENTS



Once your income exceeds a set threshold repayments for your HECS, HELP or TSL will be automatically calculated by the ATO and included in your tax assessment.

For 2016 the income threshold is $54,126. Income for the purposes of calculating these repayments equals taxable income with any net investment loss added back on.


Your repayment amount is a set percentage of your income which increases according to your level of income eg, if you have earned $54,200 and had an outstanding debt greater than the repayment amount, you would have to make a repayment of 4% x 54,200 = $2,168

A list of the income brackets and the percentage of your income payable can be found at:


https://www.ato.gov.au/Rates/HELP,-TSL-and-SFSS-repayment-thresholds-and-rates/?anchor=HELPandTSLrepaymentthresholdsandrates201#HELPandTSLrepaymentthresholdsandrates201

Be sure your employer is aware that you have a HECS, HELP, or TSL debt and is withholding the appropriate tax to avoid getting a nasty surprise at tax time.

Please contact Andrew Marshall or Janine Orpwood at Langley McKimmie Chartered Accountants on (03) 5427 8100 to discuss further.

We provide accounting and wealth management services to clients in WoodendGisborne and Macedon Ranges areas within Victoria Australia. 

Tuesday 5 April 2016

MAIN RESIDENCE EXEMPTION - PART 1 LARGE PROPERTIES



When selling your home, capital gains tax does not generally apply; this is commonly referred to as the main residence exemption. This exemption extends to the land surrounding the dwelling to a maximum of two hectares, so long as the land is not used for income producing purposes. But what happens if you live on more than two hectares? Let’s look at Maria’s situation: 

Maria lives just out of Woodend on 20 hectares which is used entirely for private purposes. She decides to downsize and makes a net gain on the sale of the property. Maria can get the main residence exemption for the house and any two hectares of land she selects out of the 20 hectares. 

Maria obtains a valuation which states that the dwelling and two hectares of land that she has selected were worth two-thirds of the total value of the property at the time she bought it, and this has not changed since purchase. Therefore she can claim the main residence exemption on two-thirds of the capital gain from the sale of her home. 

Maria will be liable to pay capital gains tax on the remaining one third of the net gain at her marginal tax rate. If she held the property for over twelve months she is able to access the 50% discount to reduce the amount she has to pay tax on.


Please contact Andrew Marshall or Janine Orpwood at Langley McKimmie Chartered Accountants on (03) 5427 8100 to discuss further.

We provide accounting and wealth management services to clients in WoodendGisborne and Macedon Ranges areas within Victoria Australia.