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
- 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.
Example: Depreciating asset used mainly to produce non-business assessable income (ignoring any GST impact)
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.
End of example