Yes, why not. You can claim all associated costs of maintaining a rental property – travel, loan costs etc too.

Also be aware that simplying paying 12 months worth of repayments in June won't work – you need a special loan with the interest up front, otherwise you will be paying a lump sum off the principle and then be charged interest each month.

Some people haven't been aware of this.

It may be worth the trouble, but not for the interest savings. Imagine if you have a high income this fin year and expect a very low income next year – you could bring your deductions forward and save a heap of tax.

Also consider the paying in advance will mean fixing you loan for a year too.

yes, true. Usually around 0.1% though.

for serviceability purposes guaranteeing a loan is the same as taking a loan in your personal name. So if you cannot qualify for a loan in your own name you won't qualify by using a trust.

If you want to know the legal aspects of a trust then talk to a lawyer, tax aspects then to your tax advisor.

A deed can be altered if the deed allows it. But, changing a deed is very dangerous as it could cause a resettlement. If a resettlement happens then it is considered that a new trust is formed and all the assets of the trust are transferred to the new one. This means stamp duty and CGT would be payable. Adding a beneficiary could  result in a resettlement.

hi B

What you would have done is either gifted to the trust or purchased units. Neither are very safe.

Units are considered property. If you were to go bankrupt a bankruptcy trustee would take over your financial affairs. They would step into your shoes and take control of your assets. They would control your units in your trust and likely sell them or take control of the trust and sell the property. The cash obtained would be used to pay your creditors back. Unit trusts offer no asset protection.

Assuming you had used a discretionary trust to own the units, then it would be much safer. But when someone goes bankrupt transations in the near past can be unwound. So if you have gift money to a trust it may still be possible for the bankruptcy trustee (if you went bankrupt) to claim that gift back. It would be safer than loaning it to the trust, but there is still a possibility that it could be clawed back.

There are also tax issues to consider in whether to gift or loan. Say you had $100,000 cash in your bank account – you could just gift that without too many issues. But if you had to borrow the $100,000 from your LOC then you will be paying around $6,500 pa in interest. If you gifted the $100,000 borrowed, then you could not claim this interest, whereas if you borrowed it and onlent it to the trust then the trust could claim the interest.

As for personal guarantees, there is no lender out there that will lend to a trust without personal guarantees. It doesn't matter if the property is positive geared or not, it is just standard practice for lenders – it may be possible when taking out huge multimillion dollar loans, but not for residential property.

Not sure why you would want to by pass paying CGT – unless you are selling within 12months. Companies pay a flat rate of 30% tax, whereas an individual would pay 46.5% – if you keep for more than 12 months this is halved which is less than the company rate. But I am not suggesting you buy in your own name, but should consider using a discretionary trust.

GST will only be payble on new or substantially new residential property.

You may be able to claim expenses for a company that isn't set up yet if the expenses were incurred on behalf of the company – better check with your tax advisor.

I doubt you would find a bond issuer who would go past settlement date.

The best place to look is the actual legilsation.

In NSW this would be  the Duties Act 1997. http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/da199793/

an option to purchase land in nsw is classed as dutiable property under s11.

there are special rules for put and call options under s107.