Income and deductions for asset sharing

The income you earn from sharing assets (that you own or lease) is assessable income and must be reported in your income tax return. This applies even if the income from asset sharing is small or is only done to supplement your income from a job or business activities.

You can claim deductions for expenses that directly relate to sharing your assets.

You will need to keep records such as:

• statements from platforms that show your income
• receipts of any expenses you want to claim deductions for.

The person or people who own or lease the asset, regardless of who is registered on the platform, reports the income in their tax return. If you own an asset jointly with another person, you will need to declare your income and expenses in proportion to your share of the asset.

If you are carrying on a business of renting, leasing or sharing assets, what you need to report and how you lodge your annual tax return for your business depends on your type of business entity.

See also:

• Records you need to keep – for individuals
• Income tax return – for business

Lodging your tax return

If you earn income from sharing assets, you need to include this income in your tax return.

If you're not an employee of the platform or carrying on a business, report any asset-sharing income as other income. Make sure to include the platform name as the description and report income from each platform separately.

Any deductions related to asset-sharing income should be included as other deductions.

If you're carrying on a business of asset sharing, then the income needs to be reported in the income tax return of the entity that carries on the business.

If you own the asset jointly with another person, each person needs to report the income and deductions related to their share of the asset.

Next steps:

• Lodging your tax return – for individuals
• Income tax return – for business

See also:

• 24 Other income 2018
• D15 Other deductions
• P8 Business income and expenses 2018 (for sole traders)

Claiming deductions

To claim a deduction for asset-sharing expenses:

• you must have spent the money yourself and have not been reimbursed
• it must relate directly to asset-sharing income
• you must have records to prove it.

You will likely have expenses related to both personal and income-producing use when sharing your assets. You can only claim a deduction for the income-producing portion. You will need to work out the percentage that reasonably relates to the income-producing use and apportion the expense.

Some common examples of expenses for sharing assets include:

• maintenance or servicing of the asset
• decline in value (depreciation)
• insurance
• registration (for example, for cars, caravans/RVs or boats).

Some service fees or commission charged by an asset-sharing platform may be claimed as a deduction in full, depending on the nature of the fees and charges.

If you're registered for GST and claimed GST credits on your expenses, you can only claim the remaining amount (expense minus the GST) as a tax deduction.

Some assets, such as cars, have specific rules for claiming deductions.

See also:

• Peer-to-peer caravan and RV sharing deductions
• Peer-to-peer car sharing deductions
• GST credits and income tax deductions

Income from sharing your assets needs to be reported in your income tax return. You may be able to claim deductions for expenses you incur related to your asset-sharing income.