ATO targets rental property owners

The Tax Office is focusing on rental property owners this tax time and is encouraging rental owners to understand their obligations and check their claims are right before lodging their tax returns.

The ATO will be paying close attention to excessive interest expense claims and incorrect apportionment of rental income and expenses between owners.

The Tax Office will also be targeting holiday homes that are not genuinely available for rent and incorrect claims for newly purchased rental properties.

To avoid incorrect property claims, rental property owners need to ensure all rental income is included when claiming deductions and that property was genuinely available for rent when the expense was incurred.

Rental owners must make sure they apportion any deductions to take any private use into account and keep records for the claims made. The ATO’s use of sophisticated technology and data matching has amplified the Tax Office’s ability to identify incorrect rental property claims.