The Age --- Page: 10 : 16 May 2007 Original article by Lesley Parker
ABIX Summary
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) records statistics on rental tax deductions, which can be sorted into income brackets. In 2004-05 ATO data reveals that 85 per cent of loss-making rental properties were owned by average income earners of less than $A80,000 annually. If a landlord has average taxable income of $A38,347, covering a gap of $A6,662 - or the $A3.1 billion of losses averaged across 467,219 landlords in the middle tax bracket of $A21,601 to $A58,000 - it represents 17 per cent of gross income. The percentages involved in negative gearing for lower income earners deteriorates significantly.
