Has anybody use their services

[Peter Parker]

One thing I am interested in knowing more about is a form you fill in to give to your pay clerk to reduce the amount of tax taken out of your pay when you have a IP. What is this form called? Do you get it from the ATO? Is it a recommended strategy??

It's called a PAYG Income Tax witholding variation form. http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.asp?doc=/content/00096541.htm

Instead of you paying more tax than you need to and getting back at the end of the year the form allows you to pay less to start with and not get much of a refund.

While it improves cashflow and there is a slight gain (due to the time value of money), it's no magic bullet and you'll end up paying the same amount of tax whether you do one or not.

If your cash buffer and/or income is so marginal that you need to do a tax variation to meet the property's outgoings then this may indicate you may be over-extending and may be forced ot sell up if you lose your job and/or interest rates rise.

Completing a form is not necessarily a bad thing, but be wary of promoters who tout it as a miracle that will help them offload more product to financially marginal 'investors'!

 

[kamoo]

They spoke to us about purchasing property and minimising tax because that is what we said we were looking to do next. We paid the $195 for the trip to Melbourne (included flight and accom. - so we felt we didn't have a lot to lose and were interested in what they had to say.) They called themselves financial managers (I think was the term), what they did was found property for you in the best areas as far as capital growth goes, organised the finance through the big banks(NAB,CBA,ANZ etc.) and then managed your properties for 7.7%. (That is the only way they make their money!!!) Apart from a one of fee of $9100 plus GST. They would also fly you to Melb 2x a year to check how your finances are going and to plan for the future. One thing I am interested in knowing more about is a form you fill in to give to your pay clerk to reduce the amount of tax taken out of your pay when you have a IP. What is this form called? Do you get it from the ATO? Is it a recommended strategy??

Turtle37 - They have offered us free flights (x4 whole family) and two nights accommodation but the financial consultation will cost $295 - Did you think it was worth it? Did you learn anything from them? Can you give me a run down of what they went through on the day and how long it took (only as I have two kids to bring with me also). Cheers, Karina

 

[lccorp1997]

if they are offering student accomodation i would personally not go for it.

there are many downsides to these including mediocre capital growth and the ability to get finance, as others have already mentioned.

sure you might minimize tax from depreciation claims since these are new, but look at what the word "depreciation" actually means - what is the point of losing money to hold a asset that doesn't grow?

personally, i had considered purchasing student accomodation in the past but have now moved on to proper apartments.

 

[turtle37]

It's called a PAYG Income Tax witholding variation form. http://www.ato.gov.au/individuals/content.asp?doc=/content/00096541.htm

Instead of you paying more tax than you need to and getting back at the end of the year the form allows you to pay less to start with and not get much of a refund.

While it improves cashflow and there is a slight gain (due to the time value of money), it's no magic bullet and you'll end up paying the same amount of tax whether you do one or not.

If your cash buffer and/or income is so marginal that you need to do a tax variation to meet the property's outgoings then this may indicate you may be over-extending and may be forced ot sell up if you lose your job and/or interest rates rise.

Completing a form is not necessarily a bad thing, but be wary of promoters who tout it as a miracle that will help them offload more product to financially marginal 'investors'!

Thanks for that info..Exactly what I wanted to know. What a helpful forum this is proving to be.