Renovating a rental ready for sale

I have owned a WA rental property for 10 years and now plan to sell it. It will need painting, new carpets, etc. The tennants are moving out so I was thinking I would do this as soon as they leave.
From a tax perspective is there a good and bad time to spend on renovations prior to sale? Eg, are the costs deductable from the capital gains even though they occured after the final tenancy?
If I moved into the rental or stayed on weekends to do other reno stuff would that have an impact on deductions? I don't have a ppor being a grey nomad(ic) caravan person
Thanks for any advice

 

You can claim repairs up until the end of the financial year that the tenant leaves. So if the tenant leaves tomorrow June 4th then you have a mere 26 days to do everything. If they leave July 1st then you have almost a year to get the work done.

I can’t comment on the rest and be careful about what is repairs and what are improvements as to which side of the cost base they are

 

Fixing things up after vacancy doesnt mean all costs are repairs. When a reno is undertaken many of the costs may be capital expenses and commence depreciation from the date installed. Good example may be a new kitchen etc. The former item (eg carpet) may be written off if its eligible to be written off . Other items may be improvements etc. But a simple repaint etc may reflect wear and tear in the 10 year period.

As the proposed use of the property is private the occupancy to do work commences the main residency period and would certainly mean no deductions continue (excepting the 30 June repair rule) and no depreciation would be available thereafter.

The non-deductible costs (even while you reside there) and reno costs would add to the costbase so overall the CGT profit is minimised. Then subject to pro-rata for the taxable v exempt period of time.

 

Thanks for the advice. The key takeaway from the bits I did understand were to consult an accountant before starting the renovation...

 

Maybe a tax adviser. Who knows property. Accountants arent all qualified or experienced in tax. And not all tax advisers know property tax well