No. You can lodge your own return through myTax. It does get harder once you own a rental. In May 2024 the ATO said "9 out of 10 rental property owners are getting their income tax returns wrong". If you lodge your own return, the checklist on this page will help. If you would rather someone prepared it for you, use a registered tax agent, whether that is us or someone else.

Yes. myTax has a rental section, and the ATO publishes its Rental properties guide each year. The harder years are the first year, a year with a refinance, and any year after you have lived in the property. The checklist on this page shows what the return asks for.

For one owner's return with one rental property, our fee starts from $450 plus GST. It is a fixed fee, and you receive the quote before any work starts. The fee is tax deductible. Only a registered tax agent can charge a fee to prepare and lodge a tax return.

You spend 15 minutes with one of our senior accountants, online or at our Bentleigh office. They ask about your property and your last return, and you ask whatever you like. Afterwards we send you a fixed fee quote, and you decide whether to go ahead.

Ask four questions. Are they a registered tax agent? Who prepares the return? Will you see the full return before they lodge it? Is the fee fixed before work starts? You can check registration on the Tax Practitioners Board register. Our answers to the other three are on this page.

If you lodge your own return, it is due by 31 October. If you use a registered tax agent, the ATO says you need to engage them before 31 October. Most agents can then lodge later under their own lodgment program.

The ATO sorts rental expenses into three groups. You claim some straight away, such as loan interest, council rates, and repairs and maintenance. You claim some over several years, such as capital works, borrowing expenses and assets costing more than $300. You cannot claim others, such as personal expenses and travel to inspect a residential rental.

You add your rent to your other income and take off your deductible expenses. You pay tax on what is left at your marginal rate. If your expenses are more than your rent, the loss reduces your other income. All rental income goes in your return, whether the property makes a profit or a loss.

Start with what you are already entitled to. That means claiming every deduction, depreciation included, and keeping the records to prove it. We also show you how to pay less tax next year.

Joint tenants each report half. Tenants in common each report the share shown on the title. An agreement between you does not change the split, and neither does who pays the bills.

No. A quantity surveyor can prepare a schedule for a property you already own. We check for one when we read your last return, and tell you whether it is worth getting. Capital works deductions also reduce your cost base when you sell.

Yes. We read your last return before we start. If we find something missed, we tell you, and we can lodge an amendment within the ATO's time limits. If you have returns you never lodged, we can prepare and lodge those too.

We claim the land tax for each year in your return. You claim land tax in the year it relates to, not the year you pay it. We do not handle land tax assessments or objections.

Yes. You can ask the ATO to take less tax from each pay, to match the loss you expect. This is called a PAYG withholding variation. It lasts one financial year, and you need to renew it. We can lodge it for you.

The ATO generally starts instalments once you earn $4,000 or more of investment income, such as rent. Your last assessment also needs to have left more than $1,000 to pay. Instalments are payments towards your next tax bill, not a penalty. You can vary them if your income changes, and we explain them when we go through your return.

The same rules apply, with two differences. You declare all income before the platform's fees and commissions. If you also use the property yourself, you split expenses by the days and the area rented.

No. The instant asset write off is for eligible businesses, and owning a rental is generally not a business. For a rental, you claim an item costing $300 or less straight away. You claim dearer items over their effective life.

Not in your 2025-26 tax return. The changes are law and apply from 1 July 2027. A property you held at 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026 is exempt from the negative gearing changes. The capital gains tax changes apply only to gains that build up after 1 July 2027.

For the return, we need the date you moved out and the date you first rented it out. You can claim deductions only while it is rented or available for rent. For capital gains tax, the ATO has a 6 year rule. You can keep treating a former home as your main residence for up to six years while you rent it out. You cannot treat another property as your main residence for the same period.

Moving in does not remove the tax on the years you rented it out. The full exemption applies only to a home you lived in for the whole time you owned it. Otherwise the ATO allows a partial exemption.