Where travel related to your rental property is combined with a holiday or other private activities, you may need to apportion the expenses.
If you travel to inspect your rental property and combine this with a holiday, you need to take into account the reasons for your trip. If the main purpose of your trip is to have a holiday and the inspection of the property is incidental to that main purpose, you cannot claim a deduction for the cost of the travel. However, you may be able to claim local expenses directly related to the property inspection and a proportion of accommodation expenses.
Example: Apportioning travel expenses
The Hitchmans also owned another rental property in a resort town on the north coast of Queensland. They spent $1,000 on airfares and $1,500 on accommodation when they travelled from their home in Perth to the resort town, mainly for the purpose of holidaying, but also to inspect the property. They also spent $50 on taxi fares from the hotel to the rental property and return. The Hitchmans spent one day on matters relating to the rental property and nine days swimming and sightseeing.
No deduction can be claimed for any part of the $1,000 airfares.
The Hitchmans can claim a deduction for the $50 taxi fare.
A deduction for 10% of the accommodation expenses (10% of $1,500 – that is, $150) would be considered reasonable in the circumstances. The total travel expenses the Hitchmans can claim are therefore $200 ($50 taxi fare and $150 accommodation). Accordingly, Mr and Mrs Hitchman can each claim a deduction of $100.
End of example