Rental property income and deduction mistakes continue to be one of the main focus areas for the ATO this tax time. This is no surprise, considering that a recent ATO random enquiry program found 90% of tax returns that report rental income and deductions contain at least one error.

One of the income categories for rental properties that may be important for this year, but that many landlords may not know to include, is insurance payouts. With recent events such as the major flooding in large parts of the country, if you obtained insurance payments in relation to loss of rental income or repairs, those amounts will need to be included in your tax return.

If you rent out your investment property, your home, or even part of your home on a short-term basis on platforms such as AirBnB, that income also needs to be included, and you’ll need to apportion any expenses according to the space rented out. Joint owners of properties need to ensure that their income and deduction are in line with the rental property’s ownership interest.

As for expenses, while some expenses such as rental management gees, council rates, repairs, interest on loans, and insurance premiums can be deducted in the year they are incurred, other expenses, such as borrowing costs, capital works, and some depreciating assets, can only be claimed over a number of years.

If you’ve sold a property during the 2021-22 income year, you’ll need to be extra cautious, as capital gains is another of the ATO’s focus areas for this year.

Remember that the ATO receives rental income data from a wide range of courses, including share economy platforms, rental bond authorities of various states, property management software providers and state and territory revenue and land title authorities. This information can of course be matched and compared to the information provided on tax returns, meaning that there is no hiding income from the all-seeing eye of the ATO.