Reducing taxable income

Hi All,

I am busy with my 2015 tax return which is being prepared by a tax consultant, who offers a very basic service, but seems to do the job for me in terms of submission of my tax returns.

I currently own 2 investment properties and a PPOR and I need to try reduce my taxable income by a $1-2k (i know, probably something i should have looked at during the 2015 tax year).

Are there any things i could throw in as "IP property related expenses" or creative (yet legal) ways of reducing my taxable income slightly?

Perhaps people / motor car related expenses or tools acquired (which i plan to use to renovate my IPs), which i have receipts for.

BTW.. im also a salaried employee.

Cheers,
Robbie

 

Depreciation

 

Yup, i have a schedule for both my properties.

 

Tax Agent Fees? Has this been included? Not that it would be 2k but it would help. May seem obvious but does get missed from time to time.

 

What has been claimed so far? What does the accountant recommend?

- last years tax return fees
- charity donations
- home office items (computer depreciation etc)
- actual home office depreciation (beware may affect PPOR non CGT)
- IP items which can be immediately written off as repairs not depreciation
- IP items which can be immediately written off due to low value
- interest on credit card used to purchase IP items
- travel/car for IP inspections
- self education (for your salaried job)
- work related expenses (for your salaried job)

** note I'm not an accountant and these are just my random thoughts and may not be valid

 

Thanks!

What about out of pocket medical expenses?

 

http://www.hrblock.com.au/tax-guides/claiming-out-of-pocket-medical-expenses

 

Ummm . This tax offset has / is being phased out. If you didn't get it last year you are NOT eligible this year.

 

I think he was asking about the 14-15 FY

 

I always start with the question - Why ?...Do you need to bring income down by $2k ? Generally that question indicates you may have broken the Medicare Levy Surcharge cap and want to avoid it.

Isnt the issue that taxpayers generally should claim all deductions available. Thereafter trying to bring it down further reflects either :
A. Deductions not claimed (Im sure the tax adviser would be the best to ask) or
B Fraud... So take care here.

Now if its rental expenses you want find these WILL NOT affect the Medicare Levy Surcharge. Levies and add ons like HELP are based on Adjusted Taxable Income. ATI takes taxable income and adds back net rental losses...

Info here on MLS and ATI: http://www.privatehealth.gov.au/healthinsurance/incentivessurcharges/insurancerebate.htm

If that's the case you are also 4 months into the same problem this year.

 

And that's exactly what I meant. If you were not eligible in 2013 you could not claim in 2014 and if you were not eligible in 2013 AND 2014 you cant claim in 2015.

 

Hi guys,

Thanks for the advice!

With regards to why i want to reduce my taxable income was that my wife, for centrelink purposes, provided a taxable income amount of $X and we were over by about $1000, which wasnt a bad estimate, so i just wanted to get it a close to this figure as possible.

Cheers,
Robbie

 

This doesn't help this year and may not suit your investment profile. However in future years you could always run your numbers in March along side your tax variation and may consider salary sacrificing to super to reduce your taxable income (especially if its is 1-2K). Make sure your contribution limit is not reached.....

 

thats not going to help for Centrelink purposes though because they use the Adjusted Taxable income which includes Reportable Super Contributions.

 

My bad....didn't know that.

 

Centrelink will use Adjusted Taxable Income so forget using rental losses to achive this. Employees of entities that can pay exempt fringe benefits are about the only ones who can still play these games. And they are on the budget radar !!