![]() Inland Revenue have released the September 2019 Tax Information Bulletin (TIB), which clarifies this. For the purposes of this blog post, we are going to assume that the LTC or an individual only holds residential rental property i.e. no commercial, they are not a trader or an associated person or a developer etc, they don't have an Airbnb-style short-stay accommodation house in the picture. Can losses from an LTC with residential rental property be offset against income from rentals owned by a partnership or in your personal name? It depends on whether
However, the answer is essentially, "Yes", if:
So the result is, you can have a negatively-geared LTC, and given the above points, the losses can flow through to you as a shareholder. You can then offset this against profits from a personally-owned rental (either solely owned or in a partnership). The situation also works in reverse ie there are profits in the LTC and losses in the personal/partnership rental. Note that you can't offset any losses against income from other sources e.g. wages, like you used to in the good old days. That is what the concept of "ring-fencing of losses" means. The losses are "ring-fenced" so that they only apply to residential rental property. Some interesting points
Do restructure strategies such as selling your old family home to an LTC still work? We have previously recommended this, in blog posts such as this one. The answer is that yes, the rules are unchanged, and this still effectively meets IRD requirements for interest deductibility and remains a good strategy. However, just be aware that any losses are ring-fenced, as described above. For more info, the IRD Sept 2019 TIB is below As always, situations vary, so please contact us for advice on your specific situation. Call 099730706 or email us here ![]()
Trust law changes: New Zealand. What are they, and how will they affect you and your trust? The main changes are:
Now, you might already be doing this, but here are some more changes; the new law lists core documents that all trustees need to retain:
![]() If you are a client of EpsomTax.com Limited, you already do this.* But if you don't have up-to-date financial statements for your trust, you will have a lot of work (and expense possibly) ahead of you (contact us for a quote on 099730706). That might be this lady's problem...? Anyway, another big big change for trustees is that you will need to tell the beneficiaries info such as:
BENEFICIARIES BECOME SETTLORS - HOW?Here is the jargon: Section 67 of the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2019-20, GST Offshore Supplier Registration, and Remedial Matters) Act 2019 enacts an amendment to section HC 27 of the Income Tax Act 2007. That amendment provides that when a beneficiary of a trust is owed an amount by the trust, the beneficiary does not become a settlor of the trust if –
How do you know if one of your beneficiaries is owed more than $25,000 by the trust? The trust will need a balance sheet, at the very least, to track this. What should you do if this is the case?
Yikes! So, some big changes coming. For a more detailed summary, please visit this page at Weston Ward & Lascelles Lawyers.^ * See a link to our blog articles on this subject here
^ This link does not constitute an endorsement of EpsomTax.com Limited by Weston Ward & Lascelles. Please contact them or your own lawyer for more information on what this means for your trust. EpsomTax.com Limited cannot provide legal advice; for accounting and taxation advice, please contact us. Capital Gains Tax (if it happens): what will be the effects on rental properties? What strategies could be employed to minimise tax effects? Here is a high-level overview: WHAT WILL BE TAXED?Everything except your grandma. No, not quite. All land except family home, shares, business assets and intangible property. Seems that cars, boats, jewellry, fine art, collectibles and other household durable items would also be excluded. HOW MUCH TAX?At present, it would be at the tax rate of who/whatever owns the asset i.e. if a person, and they are earning $70k/year, then 33c/$. However, the common view is that this will be watered down to something more like the Australian rate, which is a flat 15c/$. That being said, the proposal is to extend the lowest tax threshold of 10.5c/$ from $14k/ year to $20k/year, which is $420/year extra. Break out the party poppers. Note also, that the proposal includes allowing depreciation on buildings once again. The more things change the more they stay the same! It would also allow deductions for seismic strengthening, something more likely to help commercial property investors. WHAT'S THE TIMEFRAME?It isn't going to be backdated, but seems that businesses will have up to five years to work out what the market value of the assets as at April 2021 was. WHO WILL BE TAXED?You'll pay CGT on your worldwide assets if you* are tax resident in NZ, e.g., sell a rental property in Australia: CGT will be calculated in NZ. One would imagine however, that where there is a Double Tax Agreement (DTA), then that country has primary taxing rights, and NZ would recognise the CGT paid on that asset sale. POTENTIAL ISSUES
STRATEGIES
MORTGAGE LAB![]() We asked MortgageLab to give us their unique perspective as mortgage advisors. You'll enjoy reading some useful insights and tips from Rupert Gough here. forsyth barrForsyth Barr make the following observations:
For more insights and advice on your portfolio, go to http://www.forsythbarr.co.nz/contact-us/form/register * By "you" we mean the entity that owns the asset
+ Note that if you use part of your family home for Airbnb or want to claim home office costs or if the home is bigger than 4500 m2, then CGT would apply. See this link for more info. Reference to comments by Mortgage Lab and Forsyth Barr is done with kind permission of each party. This does not constitute an endorsement of Epsomtax.com Limited. All rights belong to their respective owners. BILL SUMMARY FROM IRDRing fencing of property losses is here to stay. What will be the impact, and what strategies should you employ? How will it affect you? Will you still get a tax refund? Here is the latest summary from IRD and our discussion below. ![]()
KEY POINTS
IMPACTSo, from 19/20 financial year it is much harder to get losses from your rental onto your personal tax return. And therefore, goodbye tax refund for most; less refund for others. Rents will likely rise as investors can't get a tax refund to the same degree. Some investors will opt to sell. Others will be able to grow their portfolio. This blog post has some good stuff in it, but see also our latest post here STRATEGIES
CAVEATS* IRD stated in the draft bill: "... we suggest that the ring-fencing rules generally apply on a portfolio basis, so a person with multiple properties would calculate their overall profit or loss across their whole residential portfolio... we are recommending that taxpayers who wish to elect to apply the rules on a property-by-property basis be able to do so. We... do not consider that ring-fenced losses should generally be fully released on a taxable sale of residential property, meaning the losses (if not exhausted from offsetting the income derived on sale) would be able to be used to offset other income. However, for those properties which have had the rules applied to them on a property-by-property basis on the taxpayer’s election, we recommend that the losses become fully unfenced if they are taxed upon sale. This would also be the case where the rules applied on a portfolio basis and all of the properties in a portfolio were sold and taxed. This would most commonly be the case for land that was taxable under the bright-line test because it was sold within five years of acquisition."
So, what does that mean?
The Tax Working Group (TWG) has published its interim report. What will be the impact on property investors? Please see the PDF below for an executive summary, courtesy of Forsyth Barr. ![]()
THE GIST OF ITBasically, the TWG wants to extend taxes on capital gains to things other than property. But, they are also looking at reintroducing building depreciation, so it is not all bad for property investors. TAX ON CAPITAL INCOME A capital gains tax (CGT) regime for property and share traders/developers etc already exists in New Zealand, so this is nothing new. The TWG recommendation is to extend this to catch gains on assets that are not already taxed:
IMPACT ON INVESTORSSome key points:
For more information, please contact either Guy Johnson or Paul O'Driscoll or via the details below. Content posted by kind permission of Forsyth Barr. This does not represent endorsement of EpsomTax.com Limited or its related companies by Forsyth Barr. All rights and trademarks belong to their owners
![]() We are sometimes asked: what does "tax-deductible" really mean? Does it mean that I get all my money back? Well... No. When an item is tax deductible that means that the cost is able to be deducted from taxable income or the amount of tax to be paid. All purchases are either 100% tax-deductible, partially tax-deductible or not tax-deductible. A 100% tax deductible item does not mean you get 100% of the money spent back. It means that you can claim 100% of the cost against your taxable income. A 50% tax deductible item e.g. phone, means you can claim half the cost against your income. So, let's say that you want to put new carpets in your rental property. The cost comes to $4000. This would be 100% tax-deductible. You can claim all of that cost against the rental income the property is earning. But let's then say that you are at the supermarket, and you forgot your personal credit card. So you pay for your groceries from your rental property account. This would not be tax-deductible. HOW MUCH TAX WILL I GET BACK?So, how much do you get back when you buy a tax-deductible item? Well, it depends on how much tax you pay. The maximum tax rate is 33%. So the maximum tax refund is also 33% i.e. You will never get back more tax than you actually paid. So we suggest as a rule of thumb: divide the cost by 1/3. This gives you a rough idea of how much tax you might get back. Of course, tax refunds are subject to things like: were you correctly taxed at your job? Are the property losses ring-fenced so that you get little or no personal tax refund? Is your rental property owned by an LTC, partnership or sole trader that allows losses to be passed to the owners (under current laws) or is it owned by something like a trust or standard company, which don't? QUESTIONSIf you have further questions, please place a comment here or contact us.
WILL IT HAPPEN?Hard to say. Now the cat is out of the bag, it might be hard to put it back in. It is, however, worth noting that attempts have been made to control the property market by brute force before, and they ultimately resulted in a change of government. In the early 1980's, the then Prime Minister, Mr Robert Muldoon, introduced a rent and interest rate freeze in an attempt to control property market growth. The result was that no one could get finance, and so no one could sell either. Eventually, this regime was repealed. There has been some very strong push-back by influential companies and bodies, which is to be expected. So, we wait and see. STRATEGIESMeanwhile, let's talk about possible strategies:
Until where know where things are going to land, these are only ideas to consider at this stage - although point 1 is probably a bit of a no-brainer. RESIDENTIAL LAND RICHIRD have proposed that any entity which is not "residential land rich" won't be subject to the ring-fencing rules. Please explain?! Well, this is a bit tricky. An entity is which is not "residential land rich" is any entity wherein 50% of more of its assets are not rental residential property. For example, an entity e.g. LTC buys a residential rental, and also buys a commercial property and the value of the rental is less than the value of the commercial property (as measured by open market value of the assets at year end). The shareholders would need to borrow the money and inject the capital into the company. The shareholders could then claim a deduction for the interest in their personal tax returns, and thus offset any profits coming from the company. And if the interest cost is greater than the profits, then that would be a loss to record on their personal tax returns. However, this would really only work if starting from scratch, and in our view, there are better ways to do it than this method. MIXED-USE ASSETYou have a mixed-use asset if, during the tax year, it's used for both private use and income-earning use, and it's also unused for 62 days or more. The rules apply to any:
See here for more info. So in other words, a mixed-use asset means you have to use it a bit yourself, e.g. a holiday home that you mostly rent out, but that you stay in a bit during the year. There are various rules (outlined in the above link) which limit what you can claim from these kind of assets, and you have to be careful if you think your gross annual income will be more than 60k (GST registration; that's another issue - especially when it comes to sale time), but it bears thinking about. SET IN STONE?By no means. We are recommending a wait-and-see approach at this stage. But start thinking ... FURTHER READINGYou might find our earlier article on this subject useful as well.
Tax Treatment of Cryptocurrency![]() IRD is till working out the tax treatment of cryptocurrency. But it has made up its mind on some things. You can read all about it here. The main points so far are:
Cryptocurrency Fraud Warnings![]() NZ Police in association with City of London Police have just released a warning. See below for the PDF. Apparently, fraudulent websites alleging to offer cryptocurrency investments are dishonestly using the image of Martin Lewis, the founder and editor for moneysavingexpert.com, as an endorsement for their companies. However, Martin doesn't do adverts. See his blog post for more info here. These sites are also falsely stating that Dragons Den back their schemes. ![]()
Our advice:
More info is available at NetSafe, especially re scams. And, just for the record, we don't claim any endorsement by Martin Lewis, his website, NZ Police, City of London Police or NetSafe. Any copyrights belong to their legal owners. We are merely making you aware of what is going on out there. Keep safe! Shock! Horror! IRD have released a proposal to ring-fence rental property losses. What does that mean for you? Current situation![]() At present if you own a rental property (sole trader, partnership, LTC) and it makes a loss, then you can offset that loss against your personal income or the income of the shareholder/s (in the case of an LTC). This means you pay less tax or get a tax refund. In IRD speak, that is "Currently investors (particularly highly-geared investors) have part of the cost of servicing their mortgages subsidised by the reduced tax on their other income sources." Thousands and thousands of Mums and Dads across New Zealand have become landlords in this way, and the tax refunds help pay for the mortgage. Possible ImpactFrom 2019-20 onwards (or possibly phased in), losses won't be passed on to the owners, so no more personal tax refunds. Instead, ring-fenced residential rental* or other losses from one year could be offset against:
Solutions for InvestorsIRD make this comment: It is suggested that the loss ring-fencing rules should apply on a portfolio basis. That would mean that investors would be able to offset losses from one rental property against rental income from other properties – calculating their overall profit or loss across their portfolio. So, our initial thoughts are that investors with negatively-geared property need to look at
Don't Panic
Where to Read the IRD ProposalGoto this page How To Make A SubmissionOfficials invite submissions on the suggested changes and points raised in this issues paper. Send your submission to policy.webmaster@ird.govt.nz with “Ring-fencing rental losses” in the subject line. Ring-fencing rental losses C/- Deputy Commissioner, Policy and Strategy Inland Revenue Department PO Box 2198 Wellington 6140 The closing date for submissions is 11 May 2018, so if you want to say something, you'd best be quick about it! FURTHER READINGCheck out Part 2 here * If your house is a Mixed Use Asset, ie you use it as a holiday home that you rent out to others, then the rules wouldn't apply to you. They also don't apply to your "main home" ie where you live, or if you are buying and selling houses for profit e.g. a trader.
SIMPLIFIED VERSIONHere are the main steps involved, and an approx. % showing how far through we are at each point. The chart starts at the bottom, and the top is 100%, tax returns filed and assessed by IRD! DETAILED VERSION![]() Here is a detailed description of each part of the process
Timeframes - How Long Does It Take?As a rough guide, from the date of invoice issuance to you having the draft financial statements in your hands, we aim for 6 weeks, subject to this disclaimer: these timeframes are indicative only and at peak times of the year e.g. May-October, it will often take longer (like 8-9 weeks) Before Processing Starts
Processing Month We'll advise you in February or March via email when this is.
We trust this helps take some of the mystery out of the process. Please contact us with any questions! Other FAQs you might have: RENTAL PROPERTY: WHAT RECORDS DO YOU NEED TO KEEP? USING ACCOUNTANCYONLINE.CO.NZ/MY TAX QUESTIONNAIRE HOW DO I DOWNLOAD TRANSACTIONS FROM MY BANK'S ONLINE INTERNET BANKING? WHAT IS XERO.COM? COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR TAX RETURNS COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR FINANCIAL STATEMENTS |
Garreth CollardAccounting for your rental residential investment property; specialised property tax advice. Buy me a coffee! Archives
April 2021
Categories
All
|