Aussie landlords are on notice with the Australian Taxation Office after a review revealed a whopping nine in 10 landlords made mistakes and claimed expenses they shouldn’t have.
The review comes after the ATO attracted a $89.6 million injection in last week’s budget, which is expected to increase Tax Office receipts $474.9 million over the next five years.
It’s not just landlords that the ATO are cracking down on.
If you work from home, run a home-based business, or earn income from short-term rental sites like Airbnb or Stayz, you also better make sure you file your returns correctly and not take the ‘copy & paste’ approach from last year as the calculation methods have changed.
“We encourage rental property owners and their registered tax agents to take extra care this tax time and review their records before lodging their return,” Assistant Tax Commissioner Tim Loh told The Age.
“You can only claim interest on a loan used to purchase a rental property to earn rental income – don’t forget, if your loan also includes a private expense, such as for a new car or a trip to Bali, you can only claim an interest deduction for the portion relating to producing your rental income.”
