The Tax Office has rental property owners in its sights this tax season with a large number of mistakes, errors and false claims made by some using their own property for personal holidays.
The ATO is reminding owners they cannot claim deductions for holiday homes that are not actually available for rent or only available to friends and family.
Private use is entirely legitimate although it does reduce an owner’s ability to earn income from the property.
Properties must be genuinely available for rent to claim deductions. This means you cannot use the property for your personal use or let friends and family stay rent-free and claim a deduction.
For those who rent the property to friends or family at “mates rates,” they must only claim deductions for expenses up to the amount of the income received.
In addition to rental properties, the ATO is investigating cases where taxpayers claim their property is available for rent but there is no intention of renting it out. Rental rates well above market rates and unreasonable conditions for prospective renters are just a couple of ways owners can be doing this.
The ATO will also be scrutinising incorrect rental property claims. Data matching technology allows the Tax Office to pick up attempts at over-claiming regardless of whether the mistake was deliberate or an accident.
Property owners are advised to double-check their claims before lodging their tax return. They must remember to declare all rental income and only claim deductions for periods that the property is rented or genuinely available for rent at market rates.
Whether you are a newcomer to the workforce or have been working full time for 30 years, you must have come across the concept of superannuation. Chances are, you’ve already been steadily building your retirement funds in one of the 500 Australian superannuation funds but are still unfamiliar with how exactly your super is being managed and where your super fund is investing your money in.
With the beginning of a new decade and social issues on the rise, it is time to take a more conscious stance on what you are doing with your super and what causes you are supporting through the employment of your money through your super fund.
A recent investigation into Australian super funds by the Australian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR), released in February 2020, found that 50 of the largest super funds in Australia are proxy voting against local climate-change initiatives. These organisations are instead approaching climate change from a global perspective, whilst ignoring more pressing domestic challenges to reduce carbon emissions..
The lack of support from Australian super funds for localised climate action is growing problematic, as Australia fails to address its appalling record on carbon emissions and is falling behind new-age global goals to fight against environmental degradation and climate change.
In contrast, some of Australia’s most environmentally and socially conscious super funds lack the reputation to attract long-term users. To look for more environmentally friendly Australian super funds, the Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) grades supers based on their ethical contributions and makes this information available to the public.
Instead of mindlessly joining Australian super funds that are neglecting growingly problematic domestic climate change issues, Australians need to become more conscious of our indirect actions and super investments. Rather than investing in an unethical super fund, looking into self-managed super funds may be another good option. We need to learn to take matters into our own hands and become more socially conscious of where exactly our money goes.
