The Australian Tax Office is increasing its enforcement on income from rental properties, and will audit 4,500 taxpayers it deems “high-risk”.
The office states that taxpayers are abusing a law which allows them to claim losses made on investment properties, often overstating losses as well as failing to declare casual income made on property rentals such as Airbnb rentals.
Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan told the Tax Institute conference in Hobart last week that with more than two million taxpayers claiming $47.4 billion in rental deductions, against $44.1 billion in reported income, “you can get a sense of the potential revenue at risk.”