Usually, accountants or property professionals like a real estate agent or property manager will introduce property investors to a quantity surveyor.

While the referrer will explain that a quantity surveyor’s input is crucial when it comes to providing depreciation advice, they may not shed any light on what a quantity surveyor actually does.

Quantity surveyors get mistaken for land surveyors, market valuers and even accountants all the time!

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) recognises quantity surveyors as one of only a few professionals with the appropriate estimation skills to calculate building costs for depreciation purposes.

However, not all quantity surveyors are experts in depreciation.

Some use their skills to plan expenditure on building works prior to or during construction for feasibility purposes or cost management.

Depreciation experts, on the other hand, use a very particular set of skills to ensure your depreciation claim is maximised.

What is tax depreciation? 

As a building gets older, items wear out – they depreciate.

Even if your assets remain in perfect condition, the ATO allows property owners to claim this imagined wear and tear as a deduction.

Depreciation deductions can put thousands of dollars back in an investor’s pocket each year. 

Visit BMT Tax Depreciation website to find out more.

When the time comes for an investor to select a quantity surveyor to complete their depreciation schedule, it is best to choose one who eats, sleeps, drinks and breathes depreciation. 

‘So, what interesting habits does a quantity surveyor who specialises in depreciation have?’ you ask. Let’s look at what helps them to set your depreciation schedule apart from the rest. 

1. Quantity surveyors have a passion for numbers

As specialist quantity surveyors, BMT Tax Depreciation put their passion for numbers to good use to prepare your depreciation schedule.

BMT Tax Depreciation will assess both the structure of any income-producing property and the plant and equipment assets (commonly known as fixtures and fittings) contained within to calculate their depreciable value. 

The cost of structural components such as walls, floors, windows and roofs can be claimed as capital works deductions at a rate of 2.5 per cent per year over forty years for any property where construction commenced after the 15th of September 1987. 

This may sound easy but it’s rarely this simple!

Visit the BMT Tax Depreciation website here

Most older properties have undergone renovations, and if these works took place within dates legislated by the ATO, the owner can claim on their depreciation, even if they were performed by a previous owner.

If different works were completed in different years, the task becomes even more complicated.

Calculating depreciation for plant and equipment assets is also quite complex.

There are more than 1,600 depreciable plant and equipment assets recognised by the ATO and each of them has effective lives over which they depreciate.

It takes an expert to correctly identify which category each asset fits into, assign it an appropriate value and then calculates its depreciation across its lifespan. 

You’re probably starting to get some idea as to why it is best to ask for the help of a trained expert.

The ATO recognise Quantity Surveyors as experts, even going so far as to legislate it in Tax Ruling 97/25, so you need a specialist to crunch the numbers!

2. Quantity surveyors are dedicated to including every plant and equipment asset on your depreciation schedule

Specialist quantity surveyors have excellent attention to detail and in the vast majority of cases, they insist on completing a detailed inspection of the property, where they will take pictures of every depreciable asset located inside and outside the building. 

Plant and equipment assets hide in even the most unlikely recesses of a property: they control the room temperature, they hang from the rod of every shower, they provide shelter for gardening tools in the corner of the backyard and, on waste collection day, they wait on the footpath for the garbage man to dispose of their contents.

Quantity surveyors see it as their duty to hunt these objects down, catalogue them and ensure every single one is listed on the owner’s depreciation schedule. 

When it comes to all things depreciable, no stone goes unturned. Not even your friendly garden gnome is safe!

3. Quantity surveyors' best friends are accountants and property professionals

Specialist quantity surveyors have a tight-knit relationship with accountants and property professionals.

This friendship is mutual, as quantity surveyors all work to make investment properties perform better for the owner.

Quantity surveyors help potential investors by providing depreciation estimates to real estate agents and property managers for their listed properties.

BMT Tax Depreciation also liaise with property managers to arrange inspection times with tenants when the time comes to complete the depreciation schedule. 

Once the quantity surveyor completes the depreciation schedule, BMT Tax Depreciation sends a copy to you and your accountant so that you can enter the deductions into your annual income tax assessment.

Accountants can also use your depreciation schedule to help you claim deductions more regularly using pay as you go withholding variations or to adjust any tax returns submitted in the last two years if deductions have not been claimed or maximised.

4. There are methods to their madness

Specialist quantity surveyors use tactics such as immediate write-off and low-value pooling to help investors maximise their deductions and get more back at tax time.

For example, BMT Tax Depreciation can write off any plant and equipment asset that costs less than $300. In other words, the total value of any eligible item is claimed in full in the first financial year.

You might think, ‘I’m not worried about those smoke alarms. They’re only $120 each!’ but when you consider how many low-cost items are in a house, the claims truly add up to a significant initial claim. 

5. Quantity surveyors are sticklers for rules

Quantity surveyors like to play things by the book.

They work closely with the ATO and their professional industry associations to stay up to date on the latest depreciation legislation and tax rulings.

While the schedules aim to outline the maximum deductions for the property’s owners, it’s important that they follow ATO guidelines to ensure that the claims are legitimate.

The work a specialist Quantity Surveyor does in completing a depreciation schedule also protects investors, should an ATO audit occur.

If the ATO question an investor’s tax return, they will be armed with the necessary evidence to support their depreciation claim.

Specialist Quantity Surveyors possess all of these rare qualities and that’s great news for you: you’ll have a professional on your side who will maximise your property’s deductions.

BMT Tax Depreciation is a friendly bunch of hard workers who would love to hear from you and help squeeze extra cash flow from your investment.

To speak with one of the experts from Australia’s leading provider of tax depreciation schedules, BMT Tax Depreciation, get in contact with them via the details below.

This is a sponsored article.

Visit the BMT Tax Depreciation website here.

Read more about BMT Tax Depreciation on the Real Estate Conversation:

BMT's tax tips for the new financial year

Are you eligible for depreciation deductions?

Ways to splash the extra cash from depreciation