Episode Details

Interest expenses are often an investors largest tax deduction. You must realise that the onus of proof is on the taxpayer (you), not the ATO. That is, you must be able to prove to the ATO that your deductions are legitimate. If you are not able to do that unequivocally, you risk the tax deduction being denied in full (and you will have to pay interest and penalties).

Therefore, it is wise to understand some basic tax rules so that you do not inadvertently put any of your tax deductions as risk. There is a lot more detail (whole chapter) in my latest book, Rules of the Lending Game, but below is a summary of the top 10 rules that relate to investment loans.

(1) You only get one chance to set the maximum tax-deductible loan

The initial amount you borrow when you first acquire an investment will be the maximum tax-deductible loan amount.

For example, if you purchase a property for $800,000 the total cost of the acquisition will be $845,000 including stamp duty. If you have $300,000 of cash, you need to borrow $545,000. In this situation, $545,000 will be the maximum tax-deductible loan. You cannot go back to the bank and increase the loan at a later stage because the “purpose” determines it tax-deductibility (which I discuss below). A possible solution to this would have been to borrow the full cost and deposit monies in a linked offset – more about this below.

(2) Loan applicants may not have tax consequences

Who’s name the loan is in (i.e. the loan applicants) typically has no impact on the deductibility of the debt. From the perspective of the ATO, especially with spouses, the main determining factor regarding deductibility is (1) who owns the asset in question – i.e. whose name is on the title; and (2) who has been making the repayments.

For example, if the investment property is in the husband’s name but the loan is in joint names, and repayments are being made from a bank account that is solely in the husband’s name, the husband should be entitled to 100 per cent of the tax deduction (Taxation Ruling TR 93/32).

It’s preferable (and cleaner) if you can arrange for the name(s) on the loan to match the name(s) on the title, as this eliminates any doubt. However, some lenders’ policies or procedures might make this difficult, costly (in terms of time or legal costs) or impossible. It’s wise to document why the loan has been established in this way – that is, because the bank declined to set up the loan solely in the owner’s name.

(3) The owner must make loan repayments

A common mistake is that repayments in respect to a loan used to fund an investment in one spouse’s name come from a joint account i.e. in both spouse’s names.

In this situation, the ATO could argue that since both of you have been repaying the loan, the deduction should be split. However, since only one spouse owns the property, only that spouse is entitled to a deduction – and consequently now half of the interest is not tax deductible!

To avoid this risk repayments should be debited to an account that is solely in the owner/s name.

(4) A loan’s security does not matter

The property/s used to secure a loan has no bearing on its tax treatment whatsoever. For example, you could have an investment loan secured by your home and it would still be tax-deductible. The purpose for which the funds are used and who’s been making the repayments will determine the tax-deductibility.

(5) Purpose is king

Ultimately, the biggest determining factor as to whether interest is tax-deductible is the purpose for which the loan funds are used