Part 1- Investment property: law changes and tips for maximising returns

Posted on 08 Jun 2021

Recent tax changes will impact residential property investors. Here are some tips from business.govt.nz and Monteck Carter on how to make the most of your investment properties.

What's changing.

For properties acquired on or after 27 March 2021:

• Legislation has passed that extends the bright-line test from five years to 10 years on residential property.
• The Government intends for the bright-line test to remain at five years for new builds and will be consulting on what a new build is soon.
• Legislation has passed that introduced a 'change of use' rule. If the sale of your property is subject to the bright-line test, and you don't use a property as your main home for 12 months or more, you will be required to pay income tax on a proportion of the profit made through the property increasing in value.
• The Government has proposed that residential property investors will not be able to offset the costs of the interest they pay on loans to purchase residential property as an expense against their taxable income. A consultation will be held about this, with any law expected to come into effect from 1 October 2021.

For properties acquired before 27 March 2021:

• The previous bright-line test for five years will continue to apply for properties acquired before 27 March 2021.
• The government has proposed that interest on loans for investment properties acquired before 27 March 2021 can still be claimed as an expense, but the amount will reduce each year until it's completely phased out by the 2025-2026 tax year. A consultation will be held about this.

Tips for landlords

Claim for everything you��re eligible for

Karen Tobeck, Partner, Monteck Carter says that "investing in rental properties has always been about generating rental income (it is only with the more recent hikes in property values that the capital gains have become a real issue for the IRD)? The usual business costs associated with this can be claimed? Although funding costs are being phased out, remember to claim all the expenses that relate to the running of the rental property, no matter how insignificant they seem." Sharon Cullwick, executive officer, New Zealand Property Investors' Federation, says sometimes people don't bother claiming for small expenses, like vehicle costs when they travel to their rental property. But it all adds up, so claim for everything you're able to. Expenses you can claim for include:

• repairs and maintenance (but not renovations that substantially improve the value of the property)
• professional services fees, like accountants, lawyers, or property managers
• rates and insurance
• mortgage repayment insurance
• vehicle and travel expenses when you travel to inspect your property or do repairs
• depreciation on capital expenses, like whiteware, appliances or heat pumps
• legal fees involved in buying a rental property, as long as the expense is $10,000 or less.

Click here for a link to the IRD website on Rental Property expenses Read the full article from business.govt.nz here.

Consider new builds.

A new build may be beneficial to your property portfolio if you don't know how long you intend to hold a property for. We'll cover this further in the next instalment of our blog. To discuss any aspect of property investing or your rental property portfolio further, contact one of our team today. We have specialists in this area and are happy to help.