It looks like we’re going to take a big hit this financial year with the new ATO rules that came into effect from July 1, 2017.
Disallow the deduction of travel expenses for residential rental property
On 9 May 2017, the Government announced that from 1 July 2017 all travel deductions relating to inspecting, maintaining, or collecting rent for a rental property will be disallowed.
Our AirBnb is about 80km return drive from our house. We drive there after each guest to check and clean, restock and transport any linen/towels that need cleaning. It’s a legitimate business expense that we were just writing off as “travel expenses.” We tried to find a local to clean for us, but they either want cash (no tax write off), or they won’t do linen/towels for a reasonable price (instead want to charge a per-piece price).
Are there any Australian Airbnb hosts in a similar situation that are looking to change things up for FY1718?
It might just be that we need to start charging a cleaning fee where we weren’t before to cover the cost of the travel. With 3 months of back-to-back weekends already booked out, we’ll stand to lose some of that value short-term.