Can I rent the property owned by my LAQC?

Question from Grant updated on 3rd June 2008:

Hi, Myself and my wife have set up an LAQC with another couple each having a 50% interest in the company. We have recently obtained our first investment property and are now looking for suitable tenants. I had an idea of us being the tenants and paying rent to our LAQC. The reason for this is that we currently rent ourselves so we thought, well why not pay rent into our property. I asked our accountant and seemed to think this would be ok but I have received some further advice from a PI advising against this. What are you thoughts?

Our expert responded:

This is a situation that IRD has looked at very closely over the last few years because people have been doing exactly this with their own home in the hopes of making the interest on their home tax deductible. Generally, renting a property from your own LAQC would be considered tax avoidance, especially if you owned it prior to it going into the LAQC. In your case, because you have business partners (and assuming they are not related to you), it may be that you can rent the property from the LAQC because there's another group involved. However, it is still a fairly grey area and my advice would be to not do it.


Kenina Court is a director of Acorn Solutions Limited, an accounting firm dedicated to working with clients to help them create wealth. She is an avid property investor, entrepreneur and seminar presenter on asset protection and wealth strategies.



 




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