Australia, UK & NZ — what's different, and why
Property Insights supports Australian, British and New Zealand property investors — but the tax and expense rules genuinely differ between them, not just in terminology. This page explains what fields you’ll see (and not see) depending on a property’s country, and why.
Setting a property’s country
Section titled “Setting a property’s country”Each property has its own country setting (defaults to your account’s country, overridable per property — useful if you hold property in more than one country). It drives:
- Which expense fields and labels appear
- Which stamp/transfer duty calculator applies
- How negative-gearing/interest-deductibility rules are modeled
- Which CGT-equivalent rule applies on sale
Changing a property’s country doesn’t move or convert any of your data — it just changes which fields and calculations apply going forward. If you’ve already entered figures under the wrong country, review them after switching (e.g. land tax, only relevant for AU/GB, would need clearing for an NZ property).
What’s different, field by field
Section titled “What’s different, field by field”| Field / concept | Australia | United Kingdom | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer tax | State-based stamp duty, banded, varies by state (see Stamp Duty) | Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) — or Scotland’s LBTT, Wales’ LTT, each with their own bands | Abolished in 1999 — no transfer tax at all |
| Council rates | Council rates — landlord-paid, an ongoing expense | Council tax — tenant-paid, not a landlord cost at all (hidden from GB expense fields) | “Rates” — landlord-paid, same mechanic as AU |
| Body corporate / shared building costs | Strata fees / body corporate | Ground rent + service charge (leasehold) — a different legal structure, not just different words | Body corporate fees (same concept as AU) |
| Lender deposit restriction | Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) required above ~80% LVR (see LVR) | No direct equivalent — lenders assess serviceability and rate individually | RBNZ LVR “speed limits” — investors typically need ~30% deposit |
| Interest deductibility | Fully deductible (with a 1 July 2026 ring-fencing change for later acquisitions — see below) | Section 24: profit is taxed before finance costs are deducted, then a 20% credit is applied — see below | Fully deductible again since 1 April 2025, but losses are ring-fenced (can’t offset your salary) |
| Capital gains on sale | CGT with a 50% discount after 12 months’ holding (less for SMSF/company/trust) | No bright-line equivalent — ordinary CGT rules apply | Bright-line test: taxed in full if sold within 2 years of purchase, not caught by this rule otherwise (see the glossary) |
| Landlord compliance costs | — | Gas safety, EICR, EPC certificates; deposit protection; HMO/landlord licensing | Healthy Homes Standards compliance (insulation, heating, ventilation) |
Why this matters for the numbers you see
Section titled “Why this matters for the numbers you see”A property’s Net Rental Income, After-Tax Cashflow, and CGT/bright-line figures are all computed differently depending on country — not just relabeled. Two identical properties with identical rent and expenses, one set to AU and one to GB, will show genuinely different after-tax cashflow, because the underlying tax treatment of finance costs is structurally different (a straight deduction vs. a capped tax-reducer credit). Getting the country setting right matters as much as getting the numbers themselves right.
This is general information, not tax advice — confirm treatment for your specific situation with a qualified accountant in your jurisdiction.