The NRAS Year is offset from the financial year by two months and runs from 1st of May to 30th April each year. The Federal Government contributes 75% of the National Rental Incentive (NRI) for NRAS each year, with the other 25% being contributed by the State and Territory Governments. The NRI is indexed annually to the CPI and is $11,048 for the 2016 – 2017 NRAS Year.
Federal Government Incentive Payment
The Federal Government’s portion is claimed as a Refundable Tax Offset (RTO) on your income tax return and is paid directly to you by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) through the NRAS Approved Participant. In past years the Federal Government has issued RTO (Refundable Tax Offset) certificates to your NRAS Participant by late July and the certificates are then forwarded to you (the NRAS Investor). For the 2013-14 NRAS Year there was a significant delay in the issue of NRAS RTO Certificates due to a range of administrative changes to the NRAS Program. For the 2014-15 NRAS Year, the Federal Government requested Approved Participants to lodge their NRAS claims as a single bulk claim. Consequently, the larger NRAS Approved Participants took longer to lodge their claims due to the number of NRAS allocations they manage. For more information about the timing of claims being lodged, please contact your NRAS Approved Participant or contact our office for further information.
State Government Incentive Payment
The State Government pays the state component of NRI to the NRAS participant following the issue of the Federal Government RTO Certificate. The State Government funds are then deposited into your bank account.
Pro rata Payments
The NRAS Incentive may be paid on a pro rata basis where:
- The property has not been active for the entire year (ie it only became available to rent partway through the year)
- The property did not meet compliance requirements for some of the year (it was rented at an ineligible rent or to an ineligible tenant)
- The property was vacant for in excess of 91 days cumulatively throughout the year or consecutively over two consecutive NRAS years (incentive is reduced on a pro rata basis for any vacancies over 91 days)
- The property was transferred to or from another owner during the year (you will be paid for the portion of the year that the property was owned by you)