Bought a rental property in Sydney? What to keep for your first tax return
Say you settle on a unit in Campbelltown in March. The agent lists it in April and a tenant moves in in May. By tax time, the rent statement tells you what came in, but it won’t tell your accountant when the unit was ready to rent or what you paid before the tenant arrived.
Start with the settlement email
Keep the signed contract, settlement statement, conveyancer’s invoice, NSW transfer duty record and loan documents together. Save the itemised settlement statement as well as the payment receipt. Keep these in a permanent property folder so you can find them again when you eventually sell.
Keep the first listing and the invoices from before move-in
Ask the agent to send you a copy of the rental listing and confirm when the property was ready and genuinely available to rent. Note any periods it was off the market and why.
If you paid a plumber to fix a leak that was already there when you bought the unit, keep the invoice with a note about when the problem started. Fixing damage that existed at purchase generally isn’t an immediate tax deduction. A dated invoice and the purchase inspection report can help explain what the work was for.
Check what your agent’s statement leaves out
Ask for the annual rental statement and keep the lease. If the agent takes their fee out before paying you, use the statement to separate the rent from the fee instead of relying on the bank deposit alone. Then add the bills you paid yourself: council and water rates, insurance and strata levies. Keep any special levy notices with the paperwork that explains what the money was for. Download your loan interest statement separately.