ato logo
Search Suggestion:

Used mainly to produce non-business assessable income

Last updated 30 October 2005

Some examples of depreciating assets used to produce non-business income are:

  • a briefcase or tools of trade used by an employee
  • furniture in a rental property, or
  • a calculator used in managing an investment portfolio.

To claim the immediate deduction, you must use the depreciating asset more than 50% of the time for producing non-business assessable income.

If you meet this test, you can use the asset for other purposes (such as to carry on a business) and still claim the deduction.

However, if you do not use the asset mainly for producing non-business assessable income, you will not be able to claim the deduction.

Start of example

Example: Depreciating asset used mainly to produce non-business assessable income

(The impact of the GST is ignored in this example).

Rob buys a calculator for $150. The calculator is used 40% of the time by him in his business and 60% of the time for managing his share portfolio. As the calculator is used more than 50% of the time for producing non-business assessable income, Rob can claim an immediate deduction for it of $150.

If Rob used his calculator 40% of the time for private purposes and 60% of the time for managing his share portfolio, he is still using the calculator more than 50% of the time for producing non-business assessable income.

However, his deduction would be reduced by 40% to reflect his private use of the asset.

End of example

QC27521