Tax advice for Springfield Lakes, before the second house

Springfield Lakes was formally named in 2000, and its two lakes were built on Opossum Creek. In 2021 the median resident was 31, against 38 for Queensland. Median household income was $2,184 a week, where the Queensland figure was $1,675, and in three couple families out of ten both partners worked full-time.

Very little is paid off yet. Only 10.3% of occupied homes were owned outright, 45.3% had a mortgage and 43.1% were rented. Households at that stage tend to face one of two decisions next: a second property, or a business run beside a salary.

Whose name goes on the title

If you co-own a rental and are not running a rental business, the income and expenses are split by your legal interest in the property, whatever the two of you agree. Under the ATO's rental income guide, joint tenants share 50:50 even when one partner earns far more and pays most of the bills, and a written agreement between you does not change that. Tenants in common split by the percentages on the title.

So the split is fixed the day you sign. If one of you earns much more, or plans to step back from work, the title decides who carries a loss now and a gain later. Changing it afterwards means transferring part of the property.

Established or new: the 12 May 2026 line

The negative gearing changes are now law and take effect from 1 July 2027. For an established house bought after 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026, a rental loss can only be offset against rent and other income from residential property, capital gains on it included. Whatever is left carries forward. It can no longer reduce the tax on your wages. New builds keep negative gearing, and property you already held at the announcement is exempt from the change.

From the same date the 50% capital gains discount gives way to cost base indexation and a 30% minimum tax rate, on the part of any gain built up after 1 July 2027, though buyers of new builds can choose the old discount instead. If you are weighing an established house against a new one, run the after-tax numbers on both. The cheaper purchase can cost more to hold.

Keeping your current house as the rental

The other route is to buy the next home and rent out this one. Under the ATO's 6-year rule a former home can stay your main residence for capital gains purposes for up to six years while it earns rent. The catch: no other property can be your main residence at the same time, apart from up to six months when moving house. You make the choice in the year you sell, but plan for it before you move.

Defence employed 3.0% of working residents here, against 0.8% across Queensland, and a posting is exactly where this rule comes up. Record the date the house was first rented or offered for rent, and get a valuation from then. If the six years run out, the ATO uses the market value at that date as the cost base.

When the side income becomes a business

Selling online or contracting on weekends is not automatically a business. The ATO's are you in business guide asks whether you intend to make a profit and have a real prospect of one, whether the work is repeated, and whether you keep records and a separate bank account and sell to the public rather than to friends. More yeses point to a business.

If it is, the profit sits on top of your salary. On the 2026–27 resident rates anyone earning over $45,000 pays at least 30 cents on each extra dollar, plus the 2% Medicare levy, so put tax aside from the first invoice. When GST turnover hits $75,000 you must register within 21 days. A sole trader set-up is often enough at first. If profits grow, a company or trust may be worth a look, and that is easier to sort out before the first big contract.

Seeing us

We work with clients across Brisbane and Ipswich, and meet in person by arrangement or online. Fees are fixed and agreed before work starts; the fees page covers how we price a job. At the census 7.3% of residents here had been born in New Zealand. Anyone still holding KiwiSaver, a rental or income there should say so early, as trans-Tasman tax is one of our specialities. The new client form is the place to begin, or get in touch.