Rental property tax tip #4 – repairs or replacements/improvements?

You can claim repair cost fully in the year that you incur them.  However if it is viewed as a replacement or improvement, the cost will need to be claimed over its useful life (so may 8-12 years, or maybe 40 years).

So it important to know what the receipt will say the works is for, to help determine if it is claim fully in the first year, or claimed over a number of years (which normally you would prefer to claim the cost completely in the first year).

By Patrick Hoey