Hi
It might be worth reminding everyone that the tax law does not make a quantity surveyor the only person who can provide a depreciation schedule on an investment property.
A client of mine had huge trouble finding a QS to come to a little country town in NSW far from any of the bigger cities and th eprices quoted were horrendous. Instead, he spoke to a building project manager who prepared a very good report for about $300.
So, perhaps this might help?
Below is a transcript of the tax ruling TD94/D67 . . .
. A deduction is allowable under section 124ZH in respect of qualifying capital expenditure incurred on the construction of, or an extension, alteration or improvement to certain income-producing buildings. Section 124ZG defines qualifying expenditure to be the actual capital expenditure incurred in constructing, extending, altering or improving an eligible building.
2. In circumstances where a taxpayer is genuinely unable to precisely determine the actual cost of the building, it is accepted that an estimate of the cost of construction by a quantity» «surveyor or 'other independent qualified person' may be used: see paragraph 19 of Taxation Ruling IT 2640. However, some doubt has arisen as to who will be accepted as a 'qualified person'.
3. It is considered that a qualified person is someone who has expertise in the calculation of the original cost of construction and who would be likely to be accepted by a court or tribunal as an expert witness on the issue of calculating the cost of construction. That expertise may have been acquired through a course of study or relevant experience in providing building cost estimates over a significant period of time.
4. The attainment of relevant professional qualifications or recognition by an appropriate professional association or organisation would be indicative of expertise in this field.
5. Unless they are otherwise qualified, valuers, real estate agents, accountants and solicitors generally have neither the relevant qualifications nor experience to make such an estimate.
6. Appropriately qualified people might include:
·
a clerk of works, such as a project organiser for major building projects;
·
a supervising architect who approves payments at each stage in major projects and who may approve individual payments to subcontractors in smaller projects;
·
a builder who is experienced in estimating construction costs of similar building projects; or
·
another person who is suitably qualified or has experience in providing estimates or costings in similar building projects.
7. The onus of proving that a person has the required expertise rests with the taxpayer. That will be an issue of fact in each case.
Cheers
Dale
