Investors making more use of tax break: BMT

Tax depreciation specialist BMT has reported that 15 per cent more people ordered depreciation schedules in 2014-15 compared to the previous financial year.

BMT found that it took investors an average of 281 days to order a depreciation schedule after purchasing their property during 2013-14.

However, that figure dropped to an average of 245 days during May, a decrease of 12.8 per cent.

BMT chief executive Brad Beer said the data suggests that an increasing number of investors are becoming more sophisticated in understanding methods to increase their yields.

“If an investor has not claimed depreciation on an investment property in the past they are able to claim for some of the years that they missed out on, and this might result in savings of up to tens of thousands of dollars,” he said.

Quantity surveyors are able to create schedules that detail the depreciation deductions available for many items in an investment property over varying time frames.

The Australian Taxation Office allows investors to claim this depreciation as a tax deduction against income that is received from the property.