Topic: Rental Property - Kiwitax - Small Business & Rental Property Accountants

Increased IRD Mileage Rate

The IRD's mileage rate has been increased to 73 cents per km (up from 72 cents) effective for the 2017 financial year. This applies to both petrol & diesel fuel vehicles. The increase is largely due to higher average fuel costs and a slight increase in fixed vehicle costs during the 2017 Financial Year. For the first time, they have also set mileage rates for hybrid & electric cars. These... More

Topics: Claimable Expenses Rental Property Accounting Business Inland Revenue Vehicles Contractors

Posted 19/05/2017

Travel To Your Rental Property & The 'Cost' Of Your Labour

For our Rental Property clients to make the most of their tax deductible mileage claims you need to keep a record of your rental-related travel. A trip to Mitre 10 to buy a new smoke alarm, followed by a 20km round trip to your rental property to install it - it all adds up. A simple hand written or spreadsheet log with dates and distances will do the trick. To help make this process a little eas... More

Topics: Claimable Expenses Rental Property Freebies

Posted 13/07/2016

Rental Property Rules Changed 1 October 2015

Just a reminder that new property rules have come into effect from 1 October 2015 and the biggest impact is the addition of a “capital gains” tax on properties if you buy and sell within a 2 year time-frame. There is a main home exemption, however this can also fall under the new rules if you’re regularly upgrading. It is best to check with us BEFORE you make any decisions about ... More

Topics: Rental Property Tax Compliance Family Home

Posted 19/10/2015

Buying a Commercial Property?

To get the best tax deductions available for depreciation on a commercial building fit-out you will need to: Have an independent valuer prepare a fit-out valuation immediately purchasing a property. They will need to provide a report that splits out fit-out items with the appropriate value for each item. Please note: If you don't get an independent valuer to do this fit-out report you will ... More

Topics: Rental Property Depreciation

Posted 20/08/2015

Understanding Current Accounts

One topic clients are often confused about is current accounts and we're often asked to explain how these work. What are current accounts? They are how accountants record and report a business owner's investment in their business (and / or rental property). When a business first begins the owner usually invests some money to buy assets and stock, pay rent, spend on advertising and so on. For an e... More

Topics: Rental Property Business Drawings Guides

Posted 20/07/2015

New Property Capital Gains Tax

In the recent budget the government announced that they are introducing a capital gains tax coming into effect in October, for properties that are sold within two years of being purchased. It is important to understand these changes will not impact your main family home and will only impact properties purchased on or after these changes come into effect. The changes are designed to ensure tax pay... More

Topics: Rental Property Tax Compliance

Posted 15/06/2015

Leased Buildings and Broken Windows - Who Pays?

An interesting heads up for anyone leasing a building and for building owners.. Recently a mower launched a large rock through one of our windows resulting in an approximately $1000 bill. The building is leased and the lease states that we are responsible for the cost of replacing the glass so we contacted our insurance people to make a claim... We were advised there was a property law change ... More

Topics: Rental Property Business

Posted 3/02/2015

Have a Family Member Living in Your Rental Property?

If you have a family member or associated party living in your rental property, there are different tax rules that apply to this situation. Based on the arrangement you have with them, the following rules apply. If you're not charging them any rent - you don't need to declare this rental property in your income tax return and you can't claim any costs. If you're charging them less than mar... More

Topics: Income Tax Rental Property Tax Returns LTC Non-Resident

Posted 12/01/2015

Thinking of Turning Your Home Into a Rental Property?

There are a few things to consider before you jump in and make this happen. Ownership structure, tax implications and debt allocation are the main factors - if you don't get these right from the start they can affect you negatively for several years, you could end up paying extra income tax when really there is no need to! By talking with us first, together we can work out: Whether you're bett... More

Topics: Rental Property Family Home Structures

Posted 30/10/2014 – Updated 22/12/2014

Tips for Buying a Rental that Needs Maintenance

Often people buy a rental property that needs a bit of work done to it - they then get the keys and undertake repairs and maintenance that can cost a few thousand dollars. The property is then looking all good and they put it to the market to find a tenant. In this instance all of the costs to repair the property will be capitalised - added to the purchase price of the property - no tax claims av... More

Topics: Claimable Expenses Rental Property Depreciation Record Keeping

Posted 1/10/2014 – Updated 7/10/2014

Living Outside of NZ But Have Rental Property Here?

IRD are paying close attention to the residency status of individuals who have left New Zealand but still have a dwelling here which they could live in. A recent court case saw IRD win and were able to determine a client was a tax resident of NZ even though the taxpayer had been out of NZ for several years! This means that the taxpayer had to declare their worldwide income and tax paid in their NZ... More

Topics: Rental Property Non-Resident

Posted 15/04/2014

Thinking of Buying a Holiday Home?

The tax rules around holiday homes have changed significantly making many formerly available tax deductions unavailable. If considering buying a property to be available for short term hire e.g. a holiday home which is rented out to the public for short periods and you also want to make use of the property - please contact us first for advice! If buying such a property for tax relief it's now not... More

Topics: Income Tax Rental Property Record Keeping

Posted 15/04/2014

Ensuring Continuity of Rental Property Expense Claims

If your rental property is untenanted and you're taking the opportunity to do some repairs and maintenance do ensure the property remains available to rent during this period. Perhaps have a sign up and/or keep advertising alive. This helps ensure you can continue to claim expenses during the untenanted period. If buying a rental property ensure it's available for rent before launching into any... More

Topics: Claimable Expenses Rental Property Tax Compliance Guides

Posted 16/09/2013

New Mixed Use of Assets Rules

The government are changing the tax rules around private use of assets such as holiday homes, boats, aircraft and so on (not road vehicles though). The idea is to prevent people having assets setup as businesses but not sufficiently hiring them out yet still claiming expenses to reduce tax. For all people who own such assets and also use them privately either personally or for friends and family t... More

Topics: Claimable Expenses Rental Property Record Keeping Tax Compliance Private Use

Posted 15/07/2013

Making Major Repairs or Improvements to Rental Property?

If you are thinking about or are in the process of making large scale repairs and/or improvements to your rental property there may be tax implications surrounding the deductibility of the costs. In most cases any improvements will be capital in nature and not a deductible expense under repairs & maintenance. In some cases they may not be subject to depreciation either. Please contact us for ... More

Topics: Claimable Expenses Rental Property

Posted 17/06/2013