A tax accountant for Goodna landlords and sole traders

Goodna is old by Ipswich standards. The village site was proclaimed in 1856 under the name Woogaroo, which is also the name of the creek on its eastern boundary, and Goodna was one of the original stations when the railway between Ipswich and Brisbane opened in 1874–75.

The 2021 census counted 1,611 rented homes in Goodna, 48% of those occupied, against about a third across Queensland.

Who the landlords are

The census also asks who the rent goes to. In Goodna, 1,064 households rented through a real estate agent and 211 from a relative or another private person who doesn't live with them. Another 251 rented from the state housing authority. Roughly four rented homes in five belong to a private owner, and for that owner the rent is taxable income.

When an agent collects the rent

The ATO counts rent as yours in the year the tenant pays the agent, not the year the agent pays you. You declare the gross rent, before the agent's fees and any repairs it paid on your behalf, then claim those costs as expenses. Check the agent's statement against your bank account.

Renting to family

Letting a house to your parents or a sibling for less than the going rate makes it partly private in the ATO's eyes. The rent is still declared. Deductions are cut back to remove the private use. Where the expenses would exceed the rent, the ATO accepts limiting them to the rent received, so the property shows neither a profit nor a loss. If you charge market rent you claim as normal, but keep a note of how you arrived at the market figure when you set it.

When the river comes up

About 300 Goodna houses were flooded in January 2011, when the Brisbane River covered parts of the Ipswich Motorway and the low ground along Woogaroo Creek. For a landlord, the ATO counts an insurance payout for flood damage, or for lost rent, as rental income, and the same goes for money from a disaster relief fund.

Putting damage right is generally a repair, claimed in the year. Using the job to upgrade, say a brick wall where fibro sheeting used to be, makes the cost capital works, usually claimed at 2.5% a year over 40 years.

Working on an ABN

The census doesn't count who runs a business. It does show what people do: in 2021, 18.0% of employed residents were labourers and 15.6% machinery operators and drivers, against 10.1% and 6.8% across Queensland. Most of that is wage work, but not all. A subcontracted labourer, a courier with a van, a weekend food stall, a few nights of ride-share after the day job: each of those is usually a business on the return, with an ABN and records to match.

Driving for an app

For GST, ride-sourcing is taxi travel. You need an ABN and GST registration before your first trip, whatever you earn, so the usual $75,000 turnover threshold doesn't apply. Since 1 July 2023 the platforms have reported drivers' earnings to the ATO twice a year, and from 1 July 2024 the reporting was extended to other platform work. What you declare should agree with what the platform has already sent.

A side business that runs at a loss

A loss from a side business doesn't come off your wages automatically. As a sole trader you need income under $250,000 for the non-commercial loss rules and must pass one of four tests, for example at least $20,000 of assessable income from the business that year. Fail them and the loss is carried forward. In a later year it can be set against income from the same activity, or against your other income if you pass the rules that year.

We set up the ABN and GST registration, prepare the business schedule and BAS, and can do the bookkeeping too, in Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks. You get a fixed price for the job before we begin; the fees page sets out what goes into it.

Meeting us

We work with clients across Brisbane and Ipswich. We don't list a street address; use the contact form and we'll arrange a meeting in person in the Brisbane and Ipswich area, or a video call. Send agent statements, invoices and platform summaries by email, bring them when we meet, or attach them to the questionnaire.

If you lodge your own 2025–26 return, it is due on 31 October 2026. An agent's later due dates only apply if you sign on with the agent before then.