Do you have a holiday home?

Depending on what you do with your holiday home there can be deductions and tax implications.

Holiday home – not rented out

If you own a holiday home and don’t rent it out, you don’t include anything in your tax return until you sell it.

When the property is sold, you will need to calculate your capital gain or loss.

Holiday home – rented out

If it is rented out, any rental income you received will need to be included in your tax return.

Expenses can be claimed for the property if they are incurred for the purpose of producing rental income.

If you don’t rent your property out for the full year then you will need to apportion your expenses.

For more information on how to apportion expenses, see the examples in Holiday home – part year rental.

If your property is in a commercial residential property, see Holiday apartments in commercial residential properties.

Holiday home – not genuinely available for rent

There may be times when your property is not rented out but is genuinely available for rent, expenses may be deducted for periods when it is not rented out.

Holiday home – part year rental

If you rent out your holiday home and also use it for private purposes, expenses must be apportioned out.  You cannot claim deductions for the proportion of expenses that relate to you private use, or it when it was not genuinely available for rent.

The ATO website has more information on Holiday homes.

Source: www.ato.gov.au