Properties excluded from the interest limitation rules

Schedule 15 exclusions

Certain properties listed in Schedule 15 of the Income Tax Act 2007 are unaffected by the interest limitation rules. This means that if you satisfy the other requirements for claiming deductions, you are still able to deduct interest for these properties:

Main home – the interest limitation rules do not apply to interest related to any income-earning use of an owner-occupier’s main home, such as flatmates, boarders, bed and breakfast where the owner lives on the property
Properties used as business premises (except for an accommodation business), like offices and shops. This includes residential properties to the extent they are used as business premises (for example, a house converted into a doctor’s surgery).
Farmland
Certain Māori land, papakāinga and kaumātua housing, and land transferred as part of a settlement under Te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi
Commercial accommodation such as hotels, motels, and hostels (but not short-stay accommodation provided in a residential dwelling)
Boarding establishment
Care facilities: hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, and convalescent homes
Retirement villages and rest homes
Employee accommodation
Student accommodation.

Main home

You generally can’t claim interest deductions for private use, but if you use your main home to earn income (such as from a flatmate or boarder), you are able to deduct some interest against that income.

For interest to be deductible, it must satisfy the general deductibility rules.

In a flatmate situation, apportion expenses between:

shared areas
areas exclusively used by the flatmate
areas exclusively used by the homeowner.

Collectively-owned Maori land and housing

This means the following:

Māori customary land, Māori freehold land, Crown land reserved for Māori, and land set aside as a Māori reservation.
Housing on land owned directly or indirectly by a Māori authority (or an entity which is eligible to be a Māori authority) that is provided as a residence to its shareholders or beneficiaries (for example, papakāinga or kaumātua housing).
Land owned directly or indirectly by a Māori authority (or entity eligible to be one) under a te Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi settlement or a post-Treaty settlement mechanism (for example, through a right of first refusal). This includes where land is transferred to an entity owned by the claimant, or where a ground lease is held by an entity owned by the claimant.

Boarding establishment

A boarding establishment is a property with:

a minimum of 10 boarding rooms that are not self-contained
communal living facilities, including shared kitchens and living areas available to all residents
servicing and management taken care of by the business.

Employee accommodation

Employee accommodation is property a person provides to their employees or other workers for accommodation in connection with their employment or service. It also includes property provided by a company in the same wholly-owned group as the person to the person’s employees or other workers. However, it does not include accommodation provided to employees or other workers who are associated with the person, unless it is necessary for the person to provide the accommodation because of the nature or remoteness of their business.

Student Accommodation

This means the following:

a boarding establishment used for the accommodation of students enrolled at a registered school or premises described in section 5B of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986, and
premises described in section 5B of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 even if they are used mainly, and not exclusively, for the accommodation of students.

This does not include a landlord who leases their residential rental property to students privately.

Emergency, transitional and social housing

If your property’s sole purpose is for emergency, transitional, social and council housing and is leased to a:

government department (for example, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development or Kāinga Ora), or
registered community housing provider or a council-controlled organisation, you can still claim interest deductions.

This also covers connected or related services provided in the same building or in a different building on the same land. The whole property needs to be leased to the housing provider to qualify, (for example, 1 bedroom in a 5-bedroom house would not qualify for this exemption).

A full list of eligible government departments can be found in schedule 2, part 1 of the Public Service Act 2020

legislation.govt.nz: Public Service Act 2020

The Community Housing Regulatory Authority maintains a register of community housing providers registered under the Public and Community Housing Management Act 1992:

chra.hud.govt.nz: The register

Council housing

Property is not subject to the interest limitation rules if it is used by a local authority or a council-controlled organisation (CCO) for the sole purpose of providing housing to people assessed by a local authority as being eligible for housing at less than market rent.

This still applies if connected or wraparound services are provided on site either in the same building or in a different building on the same land (for example, rehabilitation). The whole property needs to be leased to the local authority or CCO in order to qualify (for example, 1-bedroom in a 5-bedroom house would not qualify for this exemption).

Interest incurred on a property is subject to interest limitation if it is not used for council housing, for example, if the CCO provides rental housing at market rates.

What if part of my property is affected and part is excluded?

If you own a piece of land that has both a residential property and excluded property on the same legal title such as a 2-storey building with a shop on the ground floor and a flat on the top floor, you can deduct interest for the portion of the property that is excluded. You’ll need to apportion your interest expenses between the different parts of the land using the standard tax apportionment principles.

Example: Tāmati owns a 2-storey building with dual purpose

Tāmati owns a 2-storey building with mixed residential and commercial use. The ground floor is a clothing store and the upper storey is rented out as long-term residential accommodation. The whole building is on a single legal title.

Tāmati has 1 loan for the whole property. The upper-storey apartment is a residential property, but the clothing store on the ground floor is excluded. Following standard principles for apportionment, Tāmati calculates that the clothing store on the ground floor accounts for 55%, and the upper storey for 45%, of the interest paid on his loan.

So, Tāmati would be subject to interest limitation for 45% of his interest expense, as this would be interest that relates to affected property. For the period from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2025, a portion of the 45% would not be deductible.