ABCDiamond

Interesting ruling from the ATO recently.

Anyone setting up solar with the intention of making a profit, may be liable to tax on that profit.

moneypenny20

But it would take forever (not quite but ykwim) to turn a profit and how the hell do they prove intent?

Swerv-o

When would profit kick in though?

Would it be after the initial capital investment had been repaid, or would it be on any income derived from the system?

I guess that also, if they are going to want to tax any income from your solar set up, then the initial outlay may also be tax deductible, given that it was a necessary outlay to get you into business in the first place? Plus you could then start depreciating the value of your panels, wring, maintenance costs etc...


S


S

ABCDiamond

There is a private ruling on this, but I have only heard snippets.

Could get scary though: you install loads of panels on the house, claim all costs as a deduction against income, then when you sell the house..... The tax man says it is part of the business of producing electricity, and wants capital gains tax on it ??

keel

Thanks for this thread BS. I think a lot of people are interested but it just seems to good to be true with the rebates etc. A lot of the adverts "$1500 this week only" etc puts most people off the idea (Snakeoil salesmen).

When you say that your looking at the marketing I think like most things "one size fits all" won't work. You've got the greenies who love the saving of the envionment on one side and on the other those unconvinced/hostile to the global warming debate. Guess which side I'm on If I can get almost free electricity I'm in.

There's been some good links on this thread (whirlpool especialy) to help everyone with their research.

Keel

Broad Shoulders

It comes down to how that income is received. If it is done through an offset whereby your power company takes the amount off your usage (ie: the gross feed in system currently being used in NSW and likely to be canned very soon in favour of the Net feed in adopted by most other states) then this does not apply. If you are receiving external payments from the power company outside or in surplus to your bill then yes you are eligible, however it is viewed upon as a benefit payment (like from Centrelink) than it is a direct income.

Broad Shoulders

I found the best all-in-one document that covers most questions people have. It's long but it's the best "dummies guide" to solar energy in Australia. It goes a long way to help understand the whole rebates thing.



http://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au...er-guide/Solar PV Consumer Guide Vol3 2 Sept 2010.pdf

Kelli28

Yup

Yup
Any product won't take off until it is better or easier for the consumer than the current alternative. IMO the current solar power options in Aus is just not quite there yet.

Swerv-o

I missed this earlier, but definitely agree. Large scale investment in large scale solar furnace schemes for bulk generation are what's required here I think.


S

asprilla

Surely if it was commercially viable then people would be doing this right now?

Kelli28

It should be down to the energy providers to generate "green" electricity, not the individual.

POW148

My neighbour is living in his shed whilst building his new house. He intends for his house to be the first one rated at EER9. There are coolroom panals inside every wall as insulation. He has installed 50 solar panals on his shed roof to return just under 10Kw of power back to the grid. Todate, his panals have been ready to return power but he has been waiting for over 6 weeks for the electricity company to send their inspector around to give it the all clear. The solar system cost him around the $30K to purchase and install. He is a builder and obtained the panals at a greatly reduced rate.

The question I have to ask is at what price to the environment has this building cost. We live out of town so every concrete truck has to do a round trip of 150 Kms. The amount of concrete and steel that has gone into the place is just unreal. Just what is his carbon footprint todate to enable him to say "my house is the most environment friendly house ever".

Dont get me wrong, I think what he is trying to achieve is just fantastic but sometimes you just have to wonder.

Barney

Broad Shoulders

Sounds like you were missold this system. It doesn't seem like they took into account how much you use before quoting. This last week I visited a household of 5 people and they have a hot water system, with no pump and they have no issues because they were sold a tailored system that fitted their needs

I don't think that would solve the problem. What is your tank size? Brand?

Broad Shoulders

Depending on where you live the average turning a profit system will take between 7 and 9 years. If you are in ACT or NSW, you will get a far quicker return as until the end of this month they have very generous guaranteed gross feed-in tariffs for the next 7 years.

Broad Shoulders

The problem you have is because VIC is in Zone 4 (sunlight energy), which therefore attracts lower REC (Renewable Energy Certificates) and these are what give you the discount.

What's your daily power usage average (should say on your last bill). The average would be approx 17-20kW. If yours falls within that range then a 3kW system will not cover that 100%. You would need to be looking more towards 4kW, possibly 5kW dependent on your environment (roof, trees etc).

Also, Real Estate agents have begun cottoning on to the fact that a solar powered house is worth a lot more and so theoretically it will improve the value.