About question D7

This question is about expenses you incurred in earning any interest you declared at item 10.

Your expenses may include:

• bank or other financial institution account-keeping fees for accounts held for investment purposes
• management fees and fees for investment advice relating to changes in the mix of your investments.

Show any expenses incurred in earning trust and partnership distributions at X and Y item 13 on your tax return (supplementary section).

Do not show expenses incurred in earning foreign source interest at this item. They are taken into account at item 20 or D15 on your tax return (supplementary section).

Do you have any interest deductions?
No	go to question D8 Dividend deductions, or   return to main menu Tax return for individuals instructions
Yes	Read below.

Answering this question

You will need:

• your bank or financial institution statements or passbooks.

You cannot claim account-keeping fees on a first home saver account.

If you had any joint accounts or other interest-earning investments, show only your share of the joint expenses. This will be half if you held the account or investment equally with one other person. Keep a record of how you worked out your proportion if you and the other investors or account holders did not share the expenses equally.

If you borrowed money to purchase assets for your private use and income-producing investments, you can claim only the portion of the interest expenses relating to the income-producing investments.

You can also claim a proportion of the decline in value of your computer based on the percentage of your total computer use that related to managing your investments. If you used your computer to manage your investment in both interest-earning investments and investments in shares or similar securities then you can claim only the proportion of the decline in value related to managing those investments once. You claim the amount at either item D7 or D8 Dividend deductions.

You cannot claim expenses you were charged for drawing up an investment plan unless you were carrying on an investment business, in which case you would claim any expenses at item P8 on the Business and professional items schedule for individuals 2011 (NAT 2816).

If you incurred particular types of expenses, such as interest on borrowed money, relating to certain overseas investments (or investments in Australia if you were a foreign resident) your claims may be affected by the thin capitalisation rules. These rules may apply if the total of your debt deductions and those of your associates is more than $250,000 for 2010-11. For more information see Thin capitalisation.

Completing your tax return

Step 1

Add up all your deductions for this item.

Step 2

Write the total amount at I item D7.

More information

For more information, see:

• Guide to depreciating assets 2011 (NAT 1996) if you are claiming a deduction for the decline in value of your computer.

Where to go next continue to question D8 Dividend deductions   return to main menu Tax return for individuals instructions   go back to question D6 Low-value pool deduction.