Property Investor Mortgage & Tax Strategy

A written engagement document covering: your current portfolio (entities, loans, rental cash flows), the decisions in front of you (next purchase, refinance, sale), the loan structure and lender shortlist for any new borrowing, the tax position implications (general — personal tax advice is provided through the engagement), and a recordkeeping plan that keeps the year-end return short and defensible. It is the engagement that ties the two sides of the practice together.

We provide tax advice as a registered tax agent (TPB 25523469) and credit advice as a Credit Representative (565110) under Australian Credit Licence 561324 held by Loans Only Pty Ltd. We do not provide personal financial product advice on investments or super — that requires an AFSL and is provided by a licensed financial adviser. We work alongside licensed advisers where personal financial product advice is needed.

It can be — negative gearing has not been abolished, and for most existing owners nothing changes. Whether a negatively geared purchase makes sense depends on your overall tax position, cash flow capacity, the property's growth prospects and your investment timeframe — not the deduction alone. What has changed: the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 (No. 49 of 2026) is enacted law, applying from the 2027–28 income year. From that year, excess residential-property deductions are quarantined — not deductible against other income such as salary in that year, but applied against certain residential capital gains and otherwise carried forward. Deferred, not lost. Ownership interests last acquired before 7.30 pm, by legal time in the Australian Capital Territory, on 12 May 2026 are grandfathered — measured by contract date, not settlement. The Act's “new residential dwelling” exception cannot yet operate because its defining legislative instrument had not been made as at 15 July 2026. The section-by-section detail is in our negative gearing changes 2027–28 resource under Technical Resources. In a strategy engagement we model the whole picture against the law for the relevant income year — not just the tax deduction.

NSW levies land tax annually on the unimproved value of land held above the tax-free threshold, with rates and surcharges that vary by ownership structure (individual, joint, company, trust). Different ownership structures can produce materially different land-tax outcomes for the same property. Land tax is one of several factors that influence the entity decision; the others include CGT main-residence treatment, lender appetite for the entity, and asset protection.

Each structure has trade-offs. Under the rules for the current income year, individual ownership generally retains access to the 50% CGT discount on eligible personal capital gains and to main-residence exemption flexibility, while a company generally cannot access the CGT discount; trusts can often stream income and capital gains but require careful trustee selection and trust deed terms. Asset protection, lender appetite, land tax and intergenerational planning all factor in. Two enacted changes bear directly on this decision. First, for CGT events happening on or after 1 July 2027, the discount percentage is 0% for resident individuals and for trusts that are not complying superannuation entities on ordinary assets, with cost-base indexation running only from 1 July 2027 applying instead; complying superannuation entities keep the 33⅓% discount, and gains from CGT events before that date keep the existing 50% discount. The discount is not abolished, but the comparison between structures changes. Second, from the 2027–28 income year excess residential-property deductions are quarantined and carried forward rather than deducted against other income; ordinary discretionary and unit trusts are not carved out of that rule (only widely held unit trusts and complying superannuation entities are), and residential rental income distributed through a trust keeps its character in a beneficiary’s own calculation. These are general points only, current as at 15 July 2026, and depend on the law for the relevant income year, which we confirm before any structure is set up. We model the comparison in writing for your specific situation.

In one engagement, with one practitioner. The loan purpose is documented at drawdown in a way that supports the tax position; offset and redraw are positioned to preserve deductibility character; the rental schedule at year-end reconciles to the lender's rental treatment; and any refinance is timed against the broader tax picture. The recordkeeping plan covers what to keep, where, and for how long.

Yes. The practice is based in Cherrybrook NSW but most investor engagements run by phone, video and secure document upload. Clients across greater Sydney, NSW and interstate are common — particularly investors who want both sides of their finances under one roof and who do not have an existing Sydney-based accountant + broker pairing.

A fixed fee for the strategy engagement based on the portfolio scope: number of properties, entities, current loans, and decisions in front of you. A separate engagement covers any tax returns and any lending work that follows. We quote in writing after a scoping call. Recurring annual review engagements are available where the portfolio needs ongoing oversight.