Negatively gearing on rental properties under attack

Negatively geared property investors lost an astonishing $13.2 billion in 2010-11. So will the government change the rules around this tax perk?

RENTAL INCOME AND DEDUCTIONS

There are now 1.76 million people in Australia who own an interest in a rental property.

The figures identify negative gearing as one of the key drains on personal tax collections with 2 out of 3rental properties being negatively geared creating a net loss of over $13 billion dollars. There are now over 1.2 million properties negatively geared in Australia.

The latest Tax Office statistics show the average loss per negatively geared investor was $10,950. The average loss for a high-income negatively geared investor earning more than $180,000 was $23,800. 

The highest proportion of tax payers (40%) claiming rental property losses are those earning between $37,000 – $80,000 in taxable income. Of the 1.2 million rental property owners in Australia claiming a rental property loss, less than 60,000 of them earn more than $180,000 per year.

See the full Taxation Office report here

http://www.ato.gov.au/content/downloads/cor00345977_2011TAXSTATS.pdf