Are property seminars and publications tax deductible?

Source: July 2008 Australian Property Investors , page 83

 

Tax related books are deductible, as they're to help you manage your taxation affairs and not to provide advice on buying rental properties. Investment magazines such as API and newspapers such as the Australian Financial Review are deductible, providing there's no private use (tax case T96). Less specific publications such as general newspapers are less likely to be deductible because it's difficult to argue that there's no private use. Seminars are only tax deductible if they relate to producing income from the property, so when a seminar teaches you how to find a good property or renovate it you can't claim a deduction against the rent for the cost of the seminar. If it also covers how to manager the property and how to buy or improve it then you can apportion the expense on the basis of the percentage of the time spent on that topic (Interpretative Decision 2003/324). You may be able to include the remaining costs as part of the cost base of a property under section 110-25(4) or (5) if you can link the seminar to that particular property.