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I was simply wondering if a substantial discount to market rates for the purpose of providing a charitable community service would be viewed by the ATO in the same way they view mates rates, where the purpose of the latter is to provide assistance to a family member or friend at the expense of ATO revenue and is also open to abuse (the tenant and owner splitting the amount of tax saved between them).


Such people are providing a service to the community by providing housing to those who can't afford to pay the market rate, they are reducing the need for social housing and taking the pressure off government, why on earth would you want to discourage such generosity ? :)
 
No, that is not what I meant. If you have a rental property that should command a market rent of $12,000 pa and you rent it to a friend or family member for just $8,000 pa say, then if your total rental expenses come to $6,000 pa, the ATO will say that only $4,000 of your rental expenses are deductible. You are renting for 2/3rd it’s market value, so you can only claim 2/3rd of the rental expense. This is to ensure that not-at-arms-length tenants aren’t used to abuse the system.

I was just wondering if the same applied if you are doing it for charitable reasons especially when the tenant is not friend or family.

I'm fairly lazy when it come to deductibles. I don't bullsh!t improvements and then depreciate them like the other 2 million public servants whose bank owns their negatively geared, simple interest loans. I improve and tend to just pay for a lot of it out of pocket.

I have professional CPAs to do my accounts who are quick to point out how I'm not allowed to do things, even when I'm not even contemplating doing them... score keepers are boring t1ts.
 
Such people are providing a service to the community by providing housing to those who can't afford to pay the market rate, they are reducing the need for social housing and taking the pressure off government, why on earth would you want to discourage such generosity ? :)

I never said I am trying to discourage it, I was simply asking the question whether the ATO has issues with it. Even though you are doing a charitable act, that doesn't mean the ATO will accept it. If I give $100 to a homeless person on the street, I cannot claim that as a deduction, because charitable deductions only apply to donations to recognised charities.
 
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