Question 959 negative gearing, leverage, capital structure, interest tax shield, real estate
Last year, two friends Gear and Nogear invested in residential apartments. Each invested $1 million of their own money (their net wealth).
Apartments cost $1,000,000 last year and they earned net rents of $30,000 pa over the last year. Net rents are calculated as rent revenues less the costs of renting such as property maintenance, land tax and council rates. However, interest expense and personal income taxes are not deducted from net rents.
Gear and Nogear funded their purchases in different ways:
- Gear used $1,000,000 of her own money and borrowed $4,000,000 from the bank in the form of an interest-only loan with an interest rate of 5% pa to buy 5 apartments.
- Nogear used $1,000,000 of his own money to buy one apartment. He has no mortgage loan on his property.
Both Gear and Nogear also work in high-paying jobs and are subject personal marginal tax rates of 45%.
Which of the below statements about the past year is NOT correct?