Investment property tax spreadsheet

Download our investment property tax spreadsheet

Your investment expenses

Throughout the tax year, you may have a variety of costs related to your property.

Purchase costs

Purchase costs are only relevant for the tax year in which you purchase your investment property. However, if you purchased your property in the current tax year, you can deduct expenses for:

• Stamp duty
• Mortgage registration and transfer
• Building and pest inspections
• Solicitor and conveyancing fees

If you incurred any other expenses related to the purchase of your investment property, make sure to record them, even if you’re uncertain whether or not they’re relevant. Your accountant will be able to sort through and find the deductions.

Home loan costs

Investors receive generous tax treatment when it comes to home loan expenses. While owner-occupiers can’t deduct their mortgage interest from their taxes, investors can. Here are some of the home loan costs you can deduct:

• Home loan interest
• Home loan fees
• Lenders mortgage insurance (LMI)

You should be able to find all the expenses related to your home loan on your monthly statement. Most lenders will also issue an end-of-financial-year statement with a rundown of all the interest charges and fees throughout the financial year.

Upkeep costs

One of your primary jobs as a landlord is to keep your property in good working order for your tenants. Fortunately, the costs associated with the upkeep of your property are deductible. You can deduct:

• Repairs
• Cleaning fees
• Pest control fees
• Gardening fees
• Renovation costs

It’s worth noting that the Australian Tax Office (ATO) treats repairs differently than it treats renovations that improve a property. You can learn about the differences here.

Running costs

In addition to repairs and maintenance, there are a variety of costs associated with running an investment property. You can deduct expenses such as:

• Council rates
• Water rates
• Strata fees
• Property management and letting fees
• Building insurance
• Landlord insurance
• Land tax

You can also deduct some miscellaneous expenses, such as travel to and from your investment property, and stationary and postage relating to your investment property.

Your income

Your accountant also needs to know the income you receive from your investment property, which should be relatively easy to calculate. Your property manager will have a statement of rental income you’ve received.

The only other income you’re likely to receive from your investment property is water usage you charge to your tenants, and any insurance policy claims that are paid out during the tax year.

Adding it all up

Once you have a detailed picture of all the expenses and income relating to your investment property, you should be able to get an idea of your cashflow for the tax year. Your cashflow is your income minus your expenses.

In addition to expenses, you can also deduct depreciation of the building and certain items you’ve bought for your property.

These items include anything likely to experience wear and tear over time, such as appliances, carpets and curtains.

However, you should note that the items must be ones you purchased, and not items purchased by a previous owner of the property.

Frequently asked questions

• Can you use Excel for property management?

  Yes, Excel can be used for property management. It is a versatile tool for tracking rental income, expenses, tenant information, and calculating financial metrics like ROI and cash flow. There are also specific apps and tools you can buy to manage your property expenses and produce cashflow and profit and loss statements.

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Written by

Adam Smith

Editor

Adam Smith was the home loans editor at Finder. Prior to joining Finder he was the editor at Australian Broker where he had been writing about home loans since 2010. See full bio