Record numbers of Aussies now have multiple jobs and multiple income streams, including as landlords, according to the ATO.
A major tax crackdown has begun thanks to a record number of Aussies with side hustles, Airbnb, Uber and sharing economy incomes and thousands written off as landlords.
The Australian Taxation Office has already kicked off it 2022-23 financial year operation, with information already flooding in – thanks to its new data scraping capabilities designed to make sure taxpayers “don’t leave out income or inflate deductions”.
The idea, says ATO assistance commissioner Tim Loh, is that come future years all that information will be auto-filled from bank accounts, property managers, landlord insurance providers, financial institutions providing loans for residential investment properties, sharing economy providers, digital platforms and income protection policies.
“This isn’t a game of Guess Who, as our sophisticated data-matching programs provide us with all the clues we need to track down taxpayers with incorrect information in their tax return,” he said.
The Sharing Economy Reporting Regime (SERR), which will track activity on the likes of Airbnb and other providers, begins from July 1 – mandating regular reports from platforms offering taxi services, ride-sourcing and short term accommodation.
Homes rented out as short-term accommodation will be subject to new data sharing rules.
From July 1, 2024, it will also be mandatory for information to be provided regularly from all other electronic distribution platforms as well, casting a wider net over the record number of taxpayers working multiple jobs or with multiple income streams.
“While the ATO has received data from a number of digital platforms in the past, this legislative change means more platforms will be required to regularly report into the future,” Mr Loh said. “These new rules will give the ATO clear visibility of people who are earning income using these platforms.”
ATO’s Residential Investment Property Loan (RIPL) data-matching program targets landlords, using client identification data plus account, transaction and property details from 17 banks for financial year 2021-22 through to 2025-26.
One “indisputable tax deduction” for landlords, say experts, was a tax depreciation schedule on investment properties – evidence for what could be thousands of dollars back for several years.
BMT Tax Depreciation CEO Bradley Beer said among mistakes some landlords put up was claiming investment property costs as repairs rather than capital improvements.
“There are nuances when it comes to claiming work on investment properties, with differences between how a renovation and general maintenance is claimed at tax time,” he said.
“We know that two thirds of investment properties have undergone some form of qualifying renovation or addition completed by current or previous owners. This reinforces the importance of having a thorough tax depreciation schedule prepared by a specialist quantity surveyor.”
“Investors who have renovated and who fail to update their tax depreciation schedule before lodging their tax return risk both being out-of-pocket and facing the scrutiny of the tax office.”
Heritage home Murphy House at Mirvac’s Ashford Residences development in Everton Park is ready to witness another 100 years. Picture: Scott Burrows. A 110-year-old farmhouse
Former Olympic swimmer Andrew Baildon and wife Karen are selling their Gold Coast property. FORMER Olympic swimmer Andrew Baildon and his wife Karen have put
bulimbapropertymanagement
August 29, 2023
Get free personalised advice from our friendly team
Simply enter your details below and we’ll give you a call