benhila

All this means is that if you work away from home (e.g. you own a house in Sydney but you work and live in Canberra) you can claim against receipts your living expenses in Canberra for a period of up to one year.

This is very different to claiming living expenses pertaining to your (one and only) place of residence in Australia for the duration of your temporary residency here.

paddyo

er...well..unless you have already moved then you will have missed it. Mine has gone in as a 'Incomplete Lodgement' as we are waiting for our Police checks to come back from the AFP, but, its in and that is the most important thing.

paddyo

The last line was interesting to me.....""The tax concession will continue to support people who are bearing additional costs because they have to maintain a home away from their actual home in Australia for work purposes, for up to 12 months."

Unless I am reading this wrong then, for Brits example, under the new rules you can claim LAFHA based on your UK property but only for a 12 month period. A bit like a breaking in until you get settled.

benhila

You are reading it wrong; you can't claim LAFHA based on your UK property. Both homes, your permanent one and the one you are maintaining for work purposes, must be in Australia.

pegleg999

The Bill containing the LAFHA reforms has been referred to The House Economic Committee for review to ensure that the Bill doesn't have any major unintended consequences and meets its policy objectives. There is a new submissions process for interested parties. Let's make sure that we make sure that our fears and concerns are brought to light!!!!!

http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_...o4%2Findex.htm

Interesting movements! Looks like even the proposed LAFHA changes have impacted markets already...

Beoz

They make it sound so awful

http://smh.domain.com.au/real-estate...720-22fdq.html

benhila

Just the usual tosh. How many LAFHA takers on the forum actually pay $5000 (or $3000 or even $1500) pw rent?

Hila

bcworld

I know some (not from the forum) that pay very close to that last number but are currently downsizing.

benhila

Yes, well, I was referring to this:

A luxurious family home in one of Mosman's best streets - Hopetoun Avenue - with a pool and harbour views was up for rent last November for $5000 a week. It is now being offered at $3950, a 21 per cent drop.

Perhaps a reflection of a slow down in the economy, but hardly a consequence of LAFHA withdrawal.

Beoz

...... $3950 is still a hell of a lot of money to be paying ..... at least it's heading somewhere toward realistic prices

Tramps_mate

They've lost the bloody plot. Who would pay 10,000 a week for these places?

http://www.realestate.com.au/propert...sman-407977807

http://www.realestate.com.au/propert...sman-407978235

pegleg999

10k a week! They do look pretty nice but who has that money!

The lafha should have been regulated with a cap, that's where it all went wrong

benhila

These properties are short-term holiday rentals, they have nothing to do with LAFHA.

pegleg999

Yeah, that makes more sense to be honest! They probably sit empty half the year!!

Beoz

Ho Ho Ho is that all? There's plenty of things LAHFA should have been.