If you make a profit from renting your property, you will need to know about the PAYG instalments system.
This is a system for paying instalments towards your expected tax liability for an income year. You will generally be required to pay PAYG instalments if you earn $2,000 or more of business or investment income, such as rental income, and the debt on your income tax assessment is more than $500.
If you are required to pay PAYG instalments we will notify you. You will usually be required to pay the instalments at the end of each quarter. There are usually two options if you pay quarterly instalments:
- pay using an instalment amount or an instalment rate calculated by us (as shown on your activity statement), or
- pay an instalment amount or using an instalment rate you work out yourself.
Depending upon your circumstances, you may be eligible to pay your instalments annually. We will notify you if you are eligible to pay an annual PAYG instalment.
For further information, see PAYG instalments.
If you receive payments that are subject to withholding (for example, salary or wages) you can contribute towards your expected tax liability for an income year by increasing your rate or amount of withholding. That way you can avoid having a tax bill on assessment, which means that you may not be required to pay PAYG instalments. To do this, you will need to arrange an upwards variation by entering into an agreement with your payer to increase the rate or amount of withholding. You and your payer will need to complete a Withholding declaration (NAT 5367).