LODGEYCALCULATOR
Tax savings calculator

How much tax are you leaving with the ATO?

Most Australian property investors miss $3,000–$9,000 in deductions every year — depreciation, borrowing costs, CGT cost base items, the quantity surveyor fee itself. Answer six quick questions and see yours. No sign-up, no PDF download form.

BENCHMARKS
ATO-aligned
BMT depreciation averages, ATO 2024-25 rental data
TIME
~60 sec
Six inputs, live updating estimate
FOCUS
Property-first
Rental schedule, deductions, CGT cost base, PAYG variation
INTERACTIVETAX SAVINGS ESTIMATE60 SECONDS · ATO-ALIGNED

Find your missing deductions

Most Australian property investors leave thousands with the ATO every year. Answer six quick questions to see what yours could look like — and how quickly Lodgey would pay for itself.

$150,000
Estimated annual after-tax savings
$2,996
+ 35 hours / year reclaimed
Depreciation catch-up
$2,145
Claimable with a quantity surveyor schedule
Commonly missed
$351
QS fee, borrowing costs, land tax, WFH
CGT optimisation
—
Enable if selling
Accountant efficiency
$500
Specialist-level deductions vs general
Recommended plan
Lodgey Investor
$19 AUD /month billed annually
Pays for itself in
4.0 weeks
Net year-one benefit $ 2,768

Illustrative only. Figures are estimates based on ATO-aligned benchmarks (BMT Tax Depreciation averages; ATO Rental Properties 2024-25 data) and do not account for your full circumstances. Depreciation catch-up assumes an eligible building and tradeable deductions. CGT estimate excludes capital losses and individual cost base specifics. Lodgey is not a registered tax agent — always consult one before lodging.

What's inside that number

The calculator is pessimistic on purpose. Every bucket references a specific deduction category the ATO benchmarks — not a vague "you'll save lots." Here's what each one really means.

~70% of residential investors don't hold a quantity surveyor depreciation schedule. Div 43 capital works (2.5% of construction cost for buildings built after 17 July 1985) plus eligible Div 40 plant and equipment add up to $5,500–$9,000 in deductible claims per year on a typical property (BMT averages). Multiply by your marginal rate for the actual dollar in your pocket. The QS fee itself ($400–$800) is also tax-deductible and often missed.
The long tail nobody bothers to chase: borrowing costs amortised over 5 years (loan application fees, LMI, mortgage registration), land tax paid direct to state revenue, travel related to property management (restricted but possible for self-managed), the depreciation report fee, body corporate audit fees, bank fees on the investment loan account.
Only triggered if you're selling. The big misses on cost base: original stamp duty, legal fees, building inspection, agent commissions + marketing at sale, capital improvements never scheduled. The 50% CGT discount, 6-year absence rule on former main residence, and main-residence partial exemption can shift the taxable gain by tens of thousands — and are frequently miscalculated by generalist accountants.
A general accountant without property specialisation typically misses 2–3 deduction categories per return. The cost is double: the fee you pay, plus the deductions you never claim. Lodgey's agent doesn't replace your accountant for audits or complex structuring — it replaces the paperwork prep and deduction discovery that eats their billable hours (and your fee).
Evidence-gathering, receipt-matching, bank-feed chasing, "what's this expense?" emails to your accountant. The ATO's own substantiation rules require receipts, not bank statements — so reconstructing a year at tax time is usually 10+ hours per property. Lodgey captures evidence as you chat about each property, rather than in a frantic end-of-year archaeology project.
Real result

"Lodgey found $4,200 in missed deductions across three properties in my first week. My accountant had been filing these returns for five years."

— Sam K. · Sydney · 3 investment properties

How Lodgey actually gets you there

The estimate above is just what's on the table. Lodgey is how you actually claim it.

01
Connect what you choose
Gmail, Drive, and bank-feed integrations are opt-in, per-session, and revocable. Lodgey only touches what you explicitly approve.
02
Chat-first discovery
Lodgey asks targeted questions about each property and walks you through the deductions, cost-base items, and artefacts relevant to your situation.
03
Evidence, persisted
Receipts, statements, and documents you share are saved, linked to the deductions they support, and produce figures your tax agent can use to lodge.
04
Audit-defensible trail
Every number Lodgey suggests carries a source link back to the receipt, statement, or email it came from — so if the ATO ever questions a deduction, the evidence is one click away.
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Important: Lodgey is not a registered tax agent. The calculator gives you an illustrative estimate based on ATO-aligned benchmarks. Always consult a registered tax agent before lodging a return, varying PAYG, or making decisions about CGT.

Questions the calculator might raise

Depreciation averages are from BMT Tax Depreciation's published residential investment benchmarks ($5,500–$9,000 first-year deductions on typical investment properties). Commonly-missed categories are drawn from Lodgey's pain-point knowledge base (400 documented issues from ATO Community forums, practitioner blogs, and Reddit/Whirlpool threads). Marginal tax rates use the ATO 2024-25 individual schedule plus 2% Medicare.
The "Typical" confidence slider uses benchmark averages. "Cautious" multiplies by 0.65 (assume half the normal deductions apply). "Ambitious" multiplies by 1.35 (assume you have depreciation + CGT + accountant mismatch all working in your favour). We default to Typical because that's what the median investor actually sees.
Yes, mostly. The 9 May 2017 change disallows Div 40 depreciation on previously-used plant and equipment in second-hand residential properties. Div 43 capital works (buildings constructed after 17 July 1985) is still fully claimable. You can still claim Div 40 on assets you purchase new after taking ownership. The calculator accounts for this with a lower base for post-2017 acquisitions.
Not directly. Lodgey prepares an evidence-backed rental schedule, flags deductions, and produces MyTax-ready figures you (or your tax agent) use to lodge. We're not a registered tax agent — that's a deliberate regulatory choice that keeps you in control and audit-defensible.
Evidence you share (bank feed, Gmail, Drive) stays in your tenant, encrypted at rest, with revocable per-session permissions for external integrations. Lodgey only reads content you explicitly approve. See the privacy policy for the full detail.
Ready to unlock yours?
Free to start. Your first audit runs in minutes.

Create your account and start chatting with Lodgey about your properties. No card required. Your tax agent is still your tax agent — we hand them cleaner evidence.