Depreciation Calculator | Property & Tax Depreciation Calculator

How much depreciation will I get?

online calculator

Our Depreciation calculator lets you answer that burning question, ‘How much depreciation will I get?’

Our FREE on-line Depreciation Calculator goes through the same process as we do when clients phone for depreciation estimates.

It will take just a few minutes to enter the information the depreciation calculator asks you about your investment property. The more you know about the property, the more accurate the estimated depreciation will be.

Our Depreciation Calculator is the perfect tool to use when ‘crunching the numbers’ on potential purchases to see if they ‘stack up’ as investments.

After you’ve entered the information about your investment property just provide your phone number and we’ll text you the estimated depreciation for the first year.

If you enter your email address, you will receive the depreciation estimates for the first five years.

Please note that the Depreciation Calculator will not supply you with figures that you will be able to use on your tax return.

To get started just click on the FREE Estimator button below. 

How we Calculate Depreciation

Many investors want to know how to calculate depreciation. How complicated can it be? The ATO generally only trusts Quantity Surveyors who are registered tax agents to calculate depreciation for investment properties.

Quantity Surveyors study Construction Management at University then need to understand the relevant tax legislation.

Here is a very simplified process for the steps we use to calculate Depreciation:

  1. Use the date the property was first available for lease and contract exchange date to determine which depreciation legislation to apply. 
  2. Determine when the structure was built (including any common areas if applicable)
  3. Calculate construction costs (excluding assets) based on when it was built, quality of finish, and location, including common areas if applicable.
  4. If renovations have been done, repeat step 1 and 2 for the renovations
  5. Determine the date the investor can start claiming depreciation and apply pro-rata rates for 1st year. Depreciation for the building is generally 2.5% per year for 40 years from construction start date
  6. Determine which assets e.g. kitchen appliances, curtains and blinds, carpet etc. in the property can be depreciated and categorise them to determine their effective life.
  7. Determine individual installed costs for the assets at the time they were installed.
  8. Apply prime cost and diminishing value formula to each asset taking into account the effective life, installed cost, low value pooling, and when the investor is entitled to start claiming depreciation.

It’s important to note that in some cases assets cannot be depreciated, in other cases, a rental property may contain both assets that can be depreciated and others that can’t be depreciated.

The construction cost for the building also varies by location due to labour and material cost differences. The Quantity Surveyor will determine the year the building was constructed

The best way to calculate depreciation is to outsource it to the experts. Depreciator has been calculating the maximum depreciation claims for property investors since 2001. Some of that vast experience has been distilled into our online depreciation calculator. 

Most online calculators ask two or three vague questions about your investment property, our calculator asks more information so we can more accurately calculate your depreciation estimate. 

Sometimes a Human is the Best Depreciation Calculator

One thing the calculator can’t do is look at your property and make judgements about renovations by prior owners. If your investment property is over 10 years old it may have had work done. If you’re not certain if some work may have been done on your investment property, it’s best to call us or put through an online enquiry, details below.

If you have questions or if you’d like to speak to us about your property just click here and we’ll get back to you ASAP or call us on 1300 66 00 33

Contact the Team

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