Tax & Deductions
Claim everything you are entitled to. Guides to deductions, depreciation, capital gains, and record keeping for Australian rental properties.
17 banks now feed the ATO's landlord data-match. 1.7 million rental loans in the 2025-26 file
The ATO's Residential Investment Property Loan data-matching program is in its fifth and final year, the 2025-26 income year, with 17 authorised deposit-taking institutions from the Big 4 down to Ubank handing over 1.7 million landlord records annually. A parallel property management data-match covers 2018-19 to 2025-26 across PropertyMe, Console Cloud, PropertyTree, REST, Kolmeo and Ailo. ATO Assistant Commissioner Rob Thomson's line last tax time was that 9 in 10 rental returns contained at least one error. Here is every data field the ATO now cross-checks against a landlord's rental schedule, the four errors that drive the 90% number, and what the 12 May 2026 negative gearing overhaul does to the risk profile.
KPMG cuts its 2026 house price forecast to -1.1%. Sydney tipped for a 5.0% fall, then a 3.3% rebound in 2027
KPMG's August 2026 Residential Property Market Outlook, released this week by chief economist Dr Brendan Rynne, has scrapped January's 7.7% growth call. National house values are now forecast to fall 1.1% in 2026 before rebounding 3.4% in 2027. Units are the resilient side of the ledger at +2.2% in 2026 and +3.7% in 2027. Sydney houses are marked for a 5.0% fall this year before a 3.3% recovery. Rents are pencilled to keep rising at about 3.5% per year through 2026 and 2027. Here is what a V-shaped correction actually means for a landlord's cash flow, refinancing calendar, and buy-vs-sell call two days out from the 11 August RBA decision.
278,984 properties were for sale in July, the biggest winter inventory pool in over a year. Melbourne stock is 42.8% higher than a year ago
SQM Research's July 2026 Stock on Market release landed on 6 August. National residential listings rose 12.4% for the month to 278,984 dwellings, 22.8% higher than a year ago. Melbourne stock is now 42.8% higher than July 2025, Brisbane 29.5%, Sydney 28.0%. Distressed listings rose for a third consecutive month to 4,330, with ACT distressed stock up 70.0% year-on-year. Capital city asking prices eased 1.2% for the month. Here is what the winter supply glut means for a landlord's next buy, the exit calendar for a Melbourne investor, and the leverage a cashed-up buyer now carries into a Sydney negotiation five days out from the 11 August RBA decision.
Apartment approvals rebounded 17.8% in June, reversing May's 11% fall. QLD +33.4%, VIC -13.9%, and only new builds keep negative gearing from 1 July 2027
The ABS Building Approvals for June 2026 landed on 30 July with total dwellings up 7.2% to 18,328 seasonally adjusted, apartments and townhouses up 17.8% to 7,138 after May's 11% fall, and residential building value up 15.1% to $11.75 billion. Queensland led the state split at +33.4%, while Victoria fell 13.9% and Tasmania fell 22.5%. This is the first monthly print landlords should read against the 12 May 2026 negative gearing grandfathering. From 1 July 2027, only eligible new builds keep full negative gearing, so this apartment pipeline is the pool investors will be buying from. Here is what the June print signals for a Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane landlord's next investment purchase.
National HVI fell 0.7% in July, the sharpest monthly drop since December 2022. Sydney -1.4%, Melbourne -1.2%, annual growth halved to 5.3%
Cotality's July 2026 Home Value Index landed at -0.7% on 1 August, the sharpest single-month decline since December 2022. Sydney fell 1.4%, Melbourne 1.2%, and both capitals now sit more than 5% below their 2026 peaks. Combined regional posted its first monthly decline since January 2023. Annual growth halved to 5.3%. Here is what a 5% peak-to-trough drop does to a Sydney investor's LVR, why the mid-sized capitals stopped propping up the national number, and how the 12 May 2026 negative gearing grandfathering rule is now bending buyer behaviour into two very different markets.
3.6% trimmed mean undershoots the RBA's 3.8% May pencil. Westpac drops hike call, CBA holds through 2026
The June quarter 2026 CPI landed at 3.8% headline and 3.6% trimmed mean on 29 July, both below the RBA's May Statement on Monetary Policy forecast and below the market consensus of 3.7%. Westpac has scrapped its hike call for the year. CBA sees the RBA on hold through 2026. The 11 August board decision is now a hold-versus-cut question, not a hold-versus-hike question. Here is how the mortgage math on a $600k investor loan changes when scenario 2 dies and scenario 4 opens up.
Valuers now rank negative gearing reform ahead of rate hikes as the top drag on house prices
The Australian Property Institute's Q3 2026 Property Directions Survey landed with 82% of 265 respondents flagging negative gearing reform as a downward pressure on residential values, ahead of CGT reform and the interest rate outlook at 77% each. Residential sentiment slid from 6.0 to 5.0 on the API's ten-point scale in a single quarter, the steepest fall of any asset class. The tax changes do not take effect for 11 more months. Here is what the survey actually says and what a leveraged landlord should do about it before the 29 July CPI and 11 August RBA decision.
Real estate's AUSTRAC enrolment deadline is Wednesday. Every landlord's next sale, purchase or related-party transfer is now an AML/CTF transaction
AUSTRAC's Tranche 2 enrolment deadline for Australia's real estate agents, buyer's agents, developers and conveyancers is Wednesday 29 July 2026. Around 100,000 businesses have been in scope since 1 July. Landlords buying, selling or transferring an investment property now face customer due diligence, beneficial-owner checks and, in higher-risk cases, source-of-funds questions. Penalties run to $33 million per breach for a body corporate. Here is what a landlord actually experiences at their next transaction and how to keep it out of a settlement delay.
76,300 jobs added in June, five times the forecast. Q2 CPI on 29 July decides the RBA's 11 August move
Australia added 76,300 jobs in June 2026 and the unemployment rate held at 4.4%, the ABS reported on 23 July. The June quarter CPI drops at 11:30am on 29 July, six trading days before the RBA's two-day board meeting on 10-11 August. A 25bp hike would take the cash rate to 4.60%, a 15-year high. Here is the mortgage bill on a $600k investor loan across the three scenarios that are actually in play for landlords.
ATO to cross-check 2.3 million property records against 2025-26 landlord returns. 9 in 10 got it wrong last year
The ATO's property management data-matching program pulls records for roughly 2.3 million individuals a year from property management software companies for 2018-19 through 2025-26. A parallel rental bond program pulls about 2.2 million individuals a year from state and territory bond authorities. Sharing economy feeds from Airbnb, Stayz and Booking.com have been direct since July 2024. Any landlord lodging a 2025-26 return this month is walking into that net. Here is what the ATO already has on your rental before you press submit.
Help to Buy took 10,000 new places on 1 July. Entry-level stock is where investors now bid against a 2% deposit
Housing Australia opened 10,000 new Help to Buy places on 1 July 2026 and lifted the taxable income caps to $103,000 for singles and $165,000 for joint or single parent applicants. Property price caps were reindexed on the same day, with Sydney sitting at $1.3 million on the standard cap. The scheme is now available in every state and territory after Tasmania joined in June. Sub-cap Sydney houses ran 4.1% in the six months to April 2026 while above-cap stock fell 1.1%, per the Cotality data cited by Domain. Here is what the mid-2026 Help to Buy expansion actually does to a landlord bidding for entry-level rental stock in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
15 lenders now sit below 5.90% while the RBA holds at 4.35%. The mid-2026 investor refi window is open
18 lenders have cut variable home loan rates since the RBA's 16 June 2026 hold at 4.35%, according to Canstar's rate tracker. AMP Bank cut fixed rates by up to 50 basis points, the largest fixed-rate move of the cycle. Bendigo Bank took a variable product to 5.89%. Macquarie's two- and three-year fixed sit at 5.19% for owner-occupiers and investors. Fifteen lenders now offer variable rates below 5.90%. Here is what the mid-2026 rate war does to a $1 million investor loan, the 12-month runway to the 1 July 2027 negative gearing reset, and the refinance calendar decision an Australian landlord needs to make this fortnight.