Do you need to pay for a Depreciation Schedule this month?

June 17 2026

You do if you want to claim our fee when you do your 26 tax return.

Perhaps you have bought a property in the last year or so and we’ve been talking to you about this for some time? Now is the time to act.

Or perhaps it’s a recently bought property and a Depreciation Schedule has been on your ‘to do’ list. It’s time to tick it off that list. You can order a Depreciation Schedule here.

Already have Depreciation Schedules for your properties? Have you made improvements to any of those properties? If so, your Depreciation Schedules may need to be updated. Did you know we do free updates?

Maybe you have an older property and you’ve always assumed there is no depreciation in it. Wouldn’t it be a pity if there was and you haven’t been claiming it?

Confused about whether the work you have done is repairs i.e. immediately deductible, or improvements i.e. need to be depreciated? Don’t let wishful thinking cloud your judgement.

Don’t forget now is also the time to treat your property to some new Assets and perhaps give it a bit of love.

Key Points

1. 1. If you have a new investment property, make payment for your Depreciation Schedule before June 30 and claim our 100% tax deductible fee.
2. 2. If you have an older rental property, don’t miss out on the depreciation that might be waiting for you to claim. We can have a look online to let you know how much you might be able to claim.
3. 3. Before you see your accountant, be clear about what is a repair. A ‘repair’ to the ATO means dealing with damage or deterioration that happened while YOU were renting out the property. 
4. 4. Now is the time to spend money on your investment property. Don’t forget to tell us about anything you add.
5. 5. If you have added brand new Assets to your rental property, you’ll need to update your Depreciation Schedule before you see your accountant.

Pay before June 30 and claim our fee

This is the time of year when people we have been talking to for ages say, ‘Okay, okay, I give up. I’m ready to pay for that new Depreciation Schedule now.’

They know that if they pay before June 30, they get to claim our fee.

Be careful, though, if you are leaving it up to your property manager to pay. They likely won’t make that payment till after June 30 when they do their end of month statements. And that means you won’t be claiming our fee in your 2026 tax return.

Equally, if you are paying by bank transfer, don’t leave it too late.

And don’t think you need to get us all the information we need to do the Schedule this month, we can work on that together after the madness of June is behind us.

Do you have an older property that might have hidden depreciation waiting for you to claim?

Wouldn’t it be a pity if you owned a property with depreciation sitting in it and you didn’t claim that depreciation. Lots of people are doing just that.

Sometimes it’s because their accountant told them it’s too old.

What if that accountant didn’t know about the renovations done by the previous owners. How would they? 

Some clients are not even aware of renovations done by previous owners. Last year we did a Depreciation Schedule on an older property where the previous owner had added a whole second storey. Our client had no idea – admittedly, it was a good job and a reno designed to match the original property.

There was over $5,000 per year in depreciation in that reno for the current owner of that property.

Got you thinking? Doesn’t hurt to ask. And we are the best people to ask. We do it all the time.

What is the definition of a repair?

At this time of year, we get lots of hopeful calls from people asking whether we think the work they have done could be claimed as repairs rather than being depreciated – pretty please. 

We write about this more than any other topic. 

Surely that doesn’t mean people don’t read our emails?

Last time we wrote about it, we really think we nailed it:

1. 1. A ‘repair’ to the ATO means dealing with damage or deterioration that happened while YOU were renting out the property. 
2. 2. If the damage was there BEFORE you started to rent out the property, you have ‘improved’ the property so you claim that work at 2.5% per year.
3. 3. Replacing an entire item like a stove, hot water heater, air con etc is NOT a repair. You need to depreciate the new item, but the good news is that those things depreciate very quickly.

Now is the time to spend money on your investment property

Legitimate repairs you spend money on can be expensed. So if you spend that money before June 30, you claim it back quickly.

Same goes for Assets you might need to buy for your property.

Assets are things like appliances, curtains and blinds, fans, furniture etc – the stuff that has a short ATO determined Effective Life. You can find a full list of these in the back of this very good ATO publication here. 

Assets costing under $300 can be written-off immediately. Those costing between $300 and $1,000 can go into a thing called the Low Value Pool. Assets in the Pool depreciate at 18.75% in the first part year. Yes, even if that is only a week or so. You can read more about the Low Value Pool here. 

Every year after that first year, Pool Assets depreciate at 37.5% of their diminishing total, So that $500 over you might add, will be claimed in no time.

And if the property is owned equally by two people, you each own a $250 oven which means you both get to write it off immediately.

Depreciator will update your Schedule FREE of charge

If you have added brand new Assets to your rental property, you’ll need to depreciate them. A lot of people think that if, say, the oven stopped working and they installed a new oven, they can claim it as a repair.

Not so, says the ATO.

If you repaired that old oven, sure. That’s a repair. But if you replaced that old oven, it’s not a repair. Same applies to hot water heaters, air con units etc etc.

But Assets depreciate quickly, so it’s not really an issue if they can’t be expensed. 

We have always done free updates and there are clients who come back to us every year to have their Schedules updated. It’s like welcoming back an old friend and seeing how they’re going. 

If you need to update your Schedule, you can read more here on the information we’ll need.

Do you have a residential or commercial property you would like us to help you claim depreciation for? Or a question about depreciation?

Order online now or call us on 1300 660 033 and rely on our 20-plus years of experience in estimating depreciation returns.