30 June is the natural moment to review your position as a property investor. This year, there is an extra reason: the May Budget introduced changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax that will reshape how residential property investments are treated from 1 July 2027.
The reassurance to lead with: existing properties are fully grandfathered. The new rules apply only to residential property purchased after 12 May 2026. If you are planning your next move, though, the details matter. Read the full breakdown in the May 2026 Newsletter.
Below is a six-part checklist I run with investor clients in May and June every year. None of it replaces a conversation with your accountant, but it gives you the structure to walk into that conversation prepared.
1. Review Your Rental Income
When was the last time you reviewed your rental return? If it has not moved in 18 months, it is almost certainly behind the market — particularly after three consecutive rate rises this year. A quick benchmark against comparable listings, or a chat with a local agent, is enough to know whether you are leaving money on the table.
If you are weighing up an increase, the rules around rental adjustments vary by state and lease type. The conversation is worth having now, well ahead of 30 June, so any change is reflected cleanly in this year's return.
2. Review Your Property Expenses
The other side of the ledger deserves the same scrutiny. The areas most worth a fresh look:
- Property management fees
- Advertising or leasing costs
- Repairs and maintenance services
- Insurance premiums
- Accounting fees
- Loan structure and interest rate
That last one is where a broker can usually move the needle most. With the cash rate now at 4.35% after three rises this year, the gap between competitive and average lender pricing has widened. If it has been more than 12 months since your investment loan was reviewed, that is the highest-leverage line item on this list.
3. Understand Which Deductions Apply
The ATO groups investment-property deductions into three buckets:
- Claim immediately — interest on loans, council rates, repairs and maintenance, depreciating assets costing $300 or less.
- Claim over several years — capital works, borrowing expenses, and the decline in value of depreciating assets.
- Cannot claim — personal expenses, some capital expenses, and the purchase of second-hand depreciating assets after 9 May 2017.
The ATO has been clear that inaccurate or unsupported claims are the most common audit trigger for rental owners. The fix is just having clean records, lined up against the right categories. Your accountant will steer the detail.
4. Get A Depreciation Schedule
If you do not yet have one, a depreciation schedule from a qualified quantity surveyor is one of the highest-return $700-or-so spends you can make on an investment property. It outlines how the value of your property's assets — flooring, appliances, fittings, fixtures — declines over time, and how that decline can be treated for tax. It is the kind of report that pays for itself in year one and keeps paying for the life of the asset.
5. Get Your Records In Order
Rental property records need to be kept for five years. Walking into your accountant's office with everything in one place — not a shoebox of receipts — makes the whole process faster and the return cleaner. The ATO's myDeductions app and tools like Xero work well for this.
6. Review Your Finance
With the cash rate at 4.35% and the property market splitting into two speeds, the finance review is the part of EOFY most investors leave on the table. A proper review covers three things:
- Is your rate still competitive against what a fresh application would secure today?
- Is your structure (fixed, variable, split, IO vs P&I, offset versus redraw) still the right fit for where you are in the cycle?
- Does you have equity sitting idle that could support your next purchase, subject to lender assessment?
If you are weighing up your second or third investment property, the broader strategy questions in why investors are focusing on rental income in 2026 and the risks and rewards of interstate investing are worth a read before 30 June.
Walk Into Your Accountant's Office Prepared
EOFY is not about chasing every dollar of deduction. It is about walking into your accountant's office with a clear view of your position, your finance, and your next 12 months. If you would like a finance review to bring to that conversation, book in below.
