Who does your tax???

[julieo]

I am just trying to get a feel for how the Somersofterites manage their IP's at taxation time.

I currently do my Taxwitholding (221D) in May for the following financial year and then do the tax myself but this is becoming a bit too much for me as we now have 6 IP's.

I have finally put info on each IP into its' own folder with categories for rent statements, bank statements, costs of buying, property mgmt issues etc so that is making life easier.

My next step is to get a depreciation schedule for each prop (at the moment I have one for only 1 prop) as I think I have been under cooking it at tax time and I think (hope) Mr Taxman owes me some money.

Also when I get the time I want to put all the info into some PM software (thanks Duncan for letting me know about that), but I am not looking forward to the time it will take. Yes I know I should have done it up front but life does have a way of getting in the way of the best laid plans!!

I am just curious as to how other people manage will multiple properties.

I am going to see our accountants next week (who look after our business stuff) and see if they can start doing it for me.

By the way my sister-in-law gives the reason for not investing in property (or anything else) as she hasn't got time for the paperwork. However she does have time to do cake decorating for friends and family for gratis!! bugger the cake I say!

[House_Keeper]

I do my tax myself. Because it is fairly similar from one year to the next, it is not too time consuming to do. For any tricky issue, I have a tax expert that I call upon.

That works for me. However, I can't say it's a fun process I'm looking forward to do. Everybody is different though.

Cheers,

[ChrisOs]

I prepare pretty much everything myself, with the exception of depreciation. I had a QS prepare a depreciation schedule for each property, which I then forward to my accountant with itemised income and expenses for each property.

It cost me about $220 last year and that was for 4 IPs. As I do a lot of the preparation work myself the accountant just has to key the details into his software package, push a few buttons and out spits my tax refund details :)

Regards,
Chris.

[Mry]

So is the question - Who does your tax? or What system or application do you use to account for multiple properties?

[House_Keeper]

So is the question - Who does your tax? or What system or application do you use to account for multiple properties?

I put together my own spreadsheet to add up the items on all my properties.

Cheers,

[julieo]

So is the question - Who does your tax? or What system or application do you use to account for multiple properties?

Yes good question. It was a bit vague. I meant do you do your own tax or do you have an accountant or taxation specialist do it for you. And if you do have someone else do it for you do they expect (especially with multiple properties) you to have the info in some presentation (eg PM software).

I guess to kinda answer my own question is how much do you want to pay someone else to do it?? i.e. the more prepared you are the less you will pay??

I just can't see me carrying my 6 folders into the accountants, giving them my group certificate and saying "here you go, do my tax please)

[Mry]

If you are going to work out what you need for your accountant, you may need to ask them personally. Each one is different. Myself, I usually hand out the NTAA Rental Property Income Worksheet (attached in a zip - its a pdf). The NTAA has such great docs.

For new properties, you should go through the initial questionnaire (3 pages) and keep it for subsequent years. If your answers for any of the questions changes, you need to let your accountant know.

I would keep the folder with all the documents, statements and invoices for when you visit the accountant, but have the income worksheet (last page) on top of the folder. That way they have the answer on the worksheet, but if they want to be pedantic, they have stuff to check through. I always check any amounts listed as repairs.

Also, if you are seeking discounts from accountants for all the work you do in advance, ask them the normal price and then ask if there is a discount available after that for being extremely well prepared. Of course if the job is more complicated than first thought, you need to ask your accountant to call you first if they intend to charge more than you agreed on.

I have seen some enterprising individuals get copies of last years return, white out all the areas where rental amounts were entered in and then write over them the new years figures.

[julieo]

Thank MRY,

This worksheets going to be extremely helpful. I had not even heard of the NTAA (I learn something new every time I log on to this forum)

Looks like I have a nice little job for myself for tomorrow!!

Cheers
Julieo

[skater]

Different Accountants use different software. Mine likes MYOB, so I enter everything myself & then just give them the end of year stuff. So far this works just fine. I have 13 IPs so it can get a bit confusing sometimes.

[House_Keeper]

If you are going to work out what you need for your accountant, you may need to ask them personally. Each one is different. Myself, I usually hand out the NTAA Rental Property Income Worksheet (attached in a zip - its a pdf). The NTAA has such great docs.

Thanks Mry

This NTAA Rental Property Income Worksheet seems very similar to the documents provided by the ATO. Probably not an coincidence...

Cheers,

[Patosan]

Well some give a box of receipts to their accountant, intead I use MYOB, not because my account recommmended to, rather I wanted to get a handle on the process and the numbers. Also it's good to be able to churn out reports to procspective lenders ... it gives them the data and shows that you know what you're on about.

As a result my accountant bill is small.

But each to their own, you know if you're a numbers person or not.
Good luck.

[ok180]

I use e-tax

You can download it from the ato web site. It goes through the process of doing your tax return and you can see how much your getting (or having to pay back!) in real time.

It has a help function which explains what can and cant be claimed, so you can't go to wrong. At the end you just connect to the internet, it forwards all the info to the ato and then they deposit the money in your account a week or so later.

too easy.

[julieo]

I use e-tax

You can download it from the ato web site. It goes through the process of doing your tax return and you can see how much your getting (or having to pay back!) in real time.

It has a help function which explains what can and cant be claimed, so you can't go to wrong. At the end you just connect to the internet, it forwards all the info to the ato and then they deposit the money in your account a week or so later.

too easy.

I had in my mind that e-tax was not suitable for multiple investment properties. ok180 do you have a few investment props and is it pretty simple to use???

[ok180]

Julieo,

I only have one IP but e-tax can handle multiple IP's with no problem. You just create a new page each property you add.

The last time i used an accountant for a tax return i checked what program they were using to work everything out and it was something that was almost identical in operation to e-tax anyway...

It's good also because you can go through all the help menu's and find many things you can claim that your accountant may have missed or didnt know you could claim because of the nature of your job. Remember no one is going to look after your $$$ like you are.

It's a good program. Download it when the new version becomes available in July and give it a go :cool:

[julieo]

Thanks ok180 I definitely will do that. So just to recap will doing this replace both the normal paper tax and supplementary tax forms I usually use??

[ok180]

.....and by the way, YES it is very easy to use. :D