Purchase of investment property (Stamp duty, tax etc..)

[Teflon]

G'day,

A friend put me on to this site, so with hope I will be able to get some answers to questions that are starting to fill my mind.

My Wife and I are looking at purchasing a property in the ACT, and I have been told that I can claim the Stamp Duty back through tax. Now we are purchasing this property to try and get ahead in the world, but things do sometimes change, and we could find we have a reduced income in say 9 months.

Now having a reduced income may mean we are no longer able to keep one of our properties, which would mean we would have to sell one. This now leads me to ask a couple of questions:

How much of the Stamp Duty is claimable in the ACT? (I have heard all is, unlike NSW)

And, How long does the property need to be rented if you do claim the Stamp Duty?

Thanks in advance,
G

 

[Raddles]

Hi there
the reason why you can claim stamp duty in the ACT is because the property is leasehold and costs associated with a lease can be claimed as a deduction.
I don't believe there is a time limit - because we were in the situation where we lost 2 properties in the Canberra bushfires - we had just purchased one of the properties 2 months before the fires and were only at the beginning of a lease situation. We did claim the stamp duty for that purchase in our tax return that year.
thanks