Every tax season, tax professionals hear the same comment from property investors.

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"I've got an investment property, so surely everything is deductible? they say.

It's an understandable assumption, but it's also the starting point for many of the mistakes we see every year.

The overwhelming majority of property investors aren't trying to do the wrong thing. In fact, most are trying very hard to comply with the tax rules.

The problem is that property has developed its own folklore around tax. Advice gets passed from one investor to another, social media reinforces misconceptions, and before long people start believing that if someone else claimed something, they can too.

Repair or improvement?

One of the biggest misconceptions is that owning an investment property somehow creates a different set of tax rules. It doesn't.

The same fundamental principle applies as it does to every other deduction: was the expense incurred in earning assessable income?

That sounds straightforward, but the practical application is often anything but.

The mistake we see most often is investors claiming improvements as repairs.

Replacing an entire fence isn't the same as repairing part of a damaged fence.

Renovating an ageing bathroom isn't simply fixing wear and tear. Installing new kitchen cabinets isn't a

repair because the old ones looked tired.

The distinction matters because it changes both the timing and, sometimes, the value of the tax deduction.

Investors often become frustrated when they discover that spending $25,000 renovating a property doesn't necessarily translate into a $25,000 deduction this year.

That's not the tax system being unfair, it's recognising that some expenditure creates a lasting improvement

rather than simply maintaining an income-producing asset.

Another recurring issue is timing.

Many investors assume that........

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