7 Rental Deductions Most NZ Landlords Miss

You're paying your mortgage, keeping the property maintained, dealing with tenants — and at the end of the year, your tax bill still stings. The problem might not be your income. It might be what you're not claiming.

Here are seven deductions that NZ landlords commonly overlook. Each one is legitimate. Each one reduces your taxable rental income. And together, they can add up to thousands of dollars a year.

1. Chattels depreciation

If your rental came with carpet, curtains, a stove, a dishwasher, a heat pump, or a hot water cylinder, you can depreciate those items over their useful life. This is called "chattels depreciation" and it's one of the biggest deductions landlords miss.

For a typical three-bedroom rental, chattels depreciation can be worth $500 to $3,000 per year — depending on the age of the items and whether you got a depreciation schedule done at purchase.

2. Travel to your rental property

If you self-manage your rental, you can claim the cost of travelling to and from the property for inspections, repairs, or meeting tradespeople. You can use the IRD's kilometre rate (which varies by vehicle type — e.g. $1.17/km for petrol vehicles in the 2025 income year) or track your actual vehicle costs. For a landlord who visits monthly at 30 km round trip, that's roughly $350 per year.

3. Accounting and tax return fees

The fee your accountant charges to prepare your rental property tax return is itself deductible. So is the cost of any tax advice specifically related to the rental. If you're paying $400–$800 for your annual return, that comes straight off your rental income.

4. Pest control

Had the property treated for spiders, ants, cockroaches, or rodents? That's a deductible expense. Even if you did it between tenancies as part of routine maintenance. A typical treatment costs $100–$400 and many landlords forget to include it.

5. Landlord insurance (not just the dwelling)

Most landlords claim their property insurance premium. But many miss the other policies that are also deductible:

• Landlord liability insurance
• Loss of rent cover
• Contents insurance (for items you own in the property)
• Natural disaster excess cover

If you bundle these into one policy, the whole premium is deductible. If they're separate, claim each one.

6. Body corporate levies

If your rental is in a managed complex — an apartment, townhouse, or unit title — you're probably paying body corporate fees. These are fully deductible as a rental expense. For some properties, levies run $3,000–$6,000 per year. That's a significant deduction to miss.

7. Legal fees for tenancy matters

If you've paid a lawyer for tenancy-related work — drafting a lease, dealing with a dispute, applying to the Tenancy Tribunal, or getting advice on your obligations — those fees are deductible. This doesn't include the legal costs of buying or selling the property (those are capital), but anything related to managing the tenancy is fair game.

How much could you be missing?

For a typical self-managed NZ landlord, these seven deductions combined can easily total $3,000–$8,000 per year. At a 33% marginal tax rate, that's $1,000–$2,600 less tax. Every year.

The best way to check? Go through your expenses line by line and compare them against a complete list of claimable deductions. That's exactly what our Deduction Finder does.