What is a quantity surveyor and why is a site inspection required?
What is a quantity surveyor?
A quantity surveyor is a professional who specialises in estimating the value of construction costs and other assets. Quantity surveyors are different from your usual tax accountant, they hold a different professional license to practice from your tax return accountant. Quantity surveyors may get involved at various stages: prior to construction, during construction and post-construction. They use our skills to determine the cost of building works and fit-out, whether we’re looking at a residential property or any of the structures and assets within the vast spectrum of commercial properties.
Quantity surveyors are one of the few professionals recognised by the Australian Taxation Office to have the appropriate skills to calculate the cost of items for the purpose of tax depreciation. The values they provide are unique: they’re not a market value or a replacement cost. Instead, construction costs are estimated using today’s values and then historically indexed to the year of construction. Meanwhile, they value plant and equipment items (commonly known as fixtures and fittings) to reflect their potential to contribute to a property’s ability to produce income.
For a quantity surveyor to complete a comprehensive tax depreciation schedule it is necessary to conduct a physical site inspection to measure, photograph, and assess the assets installed for depreciation purposes. This on-site inspection enables the quantity surveyor to achieve the highest possible tax deductions and maintain full compliance with the Australian Taxation Office.
A specialist quantity surveyor site inspection includes taking measurements of rooms, noting installation dates of assets, and photographing the building and fixtures and fittings such as hot water systems, air conditioners, and stoves.
If you’d like to get in contact with a quality quantity surveyor, BMT Tax Depreciation is a quantity surveyor who exclusively specialise in property tax depreciation. We have the complex skills and over twenty years of experience to ensure that our depreciation schedules maximise deductions for investors, unlocking the full cash flow potential of their property.
BMT Tax Depreciation is Australia’s leading supplier of residential and commercial tax depreciation schedules.
Bradley Beer (B. Con. Mgt, AAIQS, MRICS, AVAA) is the Chief Executive Officer of BMT Tax Depreciation. Please contact 1300 728 726 or visit bmtqs.com.au for Australia-wide service.
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