GOVERNMENT DIRECTION RE RENTAL HOME LOSSES

Government direction re rental home loss: What is it? What will they do? Will losses be ring-fenced or not? There are certainly differing views out there. One thing is for sure: there’s nothing like rumour.  

Interest.co.nz leads the charge on the 8th of June with this headline:

Who owns all the homes? MPs own all the homes: New Zealand’s 121 Members of Parliament own at least 292 properties between them

They take the position that nothing will change soon with regards to tax breaks for investment property, despite the upcoming deduction law changes re rental home losses, given that so many MPs have rentals.  (Check out Parliament’s latest register of pecuniary interests here).

But Landlords.co.nz think differently.  See this article published today:

Ring-fencing ‘may be just the beginning’

In a bit of nervous hand-wringing, they state “Government moves to ring-fence holiday home rental losses should send a chill down the spine of residential property investors.”

Winston Churchill said: “When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.”*

The point is that no one really knows right now whether the impending changes with respect to rental home losses will affect investment property in general.  Therefore, it would be silly to waste emotional energy speculating about what might or might not happen and how we may or may not deal with it until we have some concrete information.

So our recommendation is, for now, relax, put your feet up and enjoy that cup of tea. There’s enough to worry about today without worrying about what may never happen.^ And of course, contact us for advice

* Read more: http://www.finestquotes.com/author_quotes-author-Winston%20Churchill-page-4.htm#ixzz1z9OuQJCa

^ Of course, anyone reading this post a bit later will realise that ring-fencing of rental property loss did indeed become “a thing.” See our articles here, here and here on the changes and impacts.