Smart property investors use all the legal tax rules to minimize their cash flow leakage and maximise their deductions. The government encourages property investors to provide accommodation for those who need it by offering them a range of tax benefits. While most investors know about the typical tax deductions, such as interest on loans, repairs and management fees,…
Articles by Ken Raiss

Ken is director of Metropole Wealth Advisory and gives strategic expert advice to property investors, professionals and business owners. He is in a unique position to blend his skills of accounting, wealth advisory, property investing, financial planning and small business. View his articles
Why is it important to understand the difference between a repair and an improvement to your investment property? The property investor is often grappling with whether an expense is a repair or an improvement. This is critical because a repair can be written off immediately whereas an improvement must be written off over a longer…
Protecting your hard earned assets is increasingly becoming a common concern especially with the increasingly number of frivolous claims. For centuries people have used trusts to hold assets so as to protect them and to increase their flexibility. Protecting assets with a trust A trust is useful in this regard as the individual does not…
There’s more property research available today than ever before. In fact, only a decade or two ago, most property investors had to dive in with very little statistical analysis to help them choose the best locations. Things are much different now, but sometimes too much information can make an investment decision more difficult than it…
With the end of financial year coming up soon, I thought I would provide some general tax strategies for property investors to consider: 1. Documentation Keep summaries of all your rental income and expenses. This is much easier if you have your property manager looking after your property where they pay all expenses and collect all income….
While it’s always advisable to have a will, not every will is created equally. Amateur wills are generally not worth the paper you’ve written them on, so you should always use a lawyer who specialises in the preparation of wills. Fundamentally, the transfer of assets held in your name (which are also called estate assets)…
It’s coming up to tax time and while many of us might shudder and put it off, we should relish the thought of a legitimate tax refund. Unfortunately, many people only think of tax when it is time to lodge their return. In fact, I recently heard that there is more than $1 billion of legitimate…
Asset protection seems to be a recurring topic with clients over the past few months. Although we are not lawyers the same issues seem to crop up. So let’s have a look at the top issue of asset protection that every property investor should consider: 1. Should I have a will? The answer is yes if…
Investing in property with your super has been extremely popular over the past few years, hasn’t it? And the reasons why are far more interesting than it just being a bit trendy! The main benefit is that super is an alternative avenue for property investing that has very little impact on personal finances or your future…
The strength of Australia’s economy is due to its small and medium businesses. In fact, there are more than two million of them in Australia, who collectively employ a huge number of people. So, clearly, their importance to the overall health of our national economy cannot be overstated. However, one of the issues that small…