Q. Can I claim a deduction for land tax arrears in the income tax year in which the arrears where paid ? A. No you must amend prior year returns if you want to make a claim for land tax assessed in a current year for previous years. Refer to ATO ID 2010/192

Some non residents have positive rental income and want to make a contribution to superannuation and claim a deduction to minimise their overall tax position. Where the non resident provides a valid notice of intent to claim the deduction to the Fund and the Fund acknowledges receipt of this notice, the deduction is not more than the amount covered by the notice and the deduction does not create or increase a loss to be carried forward the taxpayer will satisfy all the required conditions to claim a deduction. The tax act requires that if a taxpayer is engaged in any activities that results in them being treated as an employee for the purposes of the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 (SGAA 1992), to deduct a contribution, less than 10% of the total of the following must be attributable to those activities: ● their assessable income for the income year; ● their reportable fringe benefits (RFB) total for the income year; ● the total of their reportable employer superannuation contributions (RESC) for the income year. In regards to the maximum earning as an employee condition TR 2010/1 states at paragraph 65: "In the application of the maximum earnings test, the relevant 'employment' activity need not be an activity in Australia. For a non-resident, the income attributable to employment outside Australia is not assessable income in Australia and so will not be counted in the maximum earnings test." If the only Australian income is rental income then this test would be satisified. This can be a useful strategy where the non-resident wants to minimise their overall tax position as non residents do not receive the tax free threshold.

ID 2009/9 Deductibility of expenses : property buyers agent’s fee says that if someone engages a buyer’s agent to help purchase a rental property then this fee is not tax deductible. However it doesn’t tell us whether the costs are a capital cost to be added to the ‘cost base’. Thankfully ID 2003/361 Capital gains tax: cost base - consultant's fees tell us that buyers agents fees are added to the cost base of the asset. However this will only be relevant where a successful purchase has been made i.e. a buyer’s agent was engaged to find a property and eventually you purchased that property. If you paid a buyer’s agent to find a property and you didn’t eventually buy the property then unfortunately those costs are not deductible and don’t get added to the cost base of any future property. If the fee being charged is to evaluate a current portfolio and provide recommendations for improving the rental income stream on the current portfolio then this would be tax deductible as it relates to current investments.

Yes you can. Taxation Ruling TR 93/32 considers the division of net income or loss between co-owners of a rental property. TR 93/32 states that net income or loss from a rental property must be shared according to the legal interest of the owners, except in those very limited circumstances where there is sufficient evidence to establish that the equitable interest is different from the legal title. Legal interest is determined by the legal title to a property. TR 93/32 states that where the title deed of a rental property indicates sole ownership of the property, and the mortgage is held in joint names, the legal owner can claim the full amount of the interest paid. In example 5 of the ruling it states “ The fact that Mr Z has paid all the expenses on the property is of no consequence for income tax purposes. We would simply treat the payment of Mrs Z’s share of the expenses by Mr Z as no more than a loan by Mr Z to Mrs Z.