Division 40 · bedrooms and living areas
Ceiling fan: effective life and depreciation rate
Each fan is its own asset. At $309 installed new, one costs more than $300 and less than $1,000, so a sole owner cannot write it off at once, but it can go into the low-value pool.
- Effective life
- 5 yrs
- DV · PC rate
- 40% · 20%
- Installed new, 2026
- $309
Five years of a ceiling fan bought new
A ceiling fan costing $309, held for each full year, under each method. At $309 it costs less than $1,000, so it can go into the low-value pool from the start: 18.75% of its cost in the first year, then 37.5% of what is left each year after, $271 over the five years against $285 at its own rate under diminishing value.
| Year | Diminishing value 40% | Prime cost 20% | Low-value pool |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $124 | $62 | $58 |
| 2 | $74 | $62 | $94 |
| 3 | $44 | $62 | $59 |
| 4 | $27 | $62 | $37 |
| 5 | $16 | $61 | $23 |
| Five years | $285 | $309 | $271 |
Full years of 365 days. Diminishing value and prime cost are worked by days held ÷ 365 (sections 40-72 and 40-75), so a year that includes 29 February, held throughout, claims 366/365 of what a 365-day year would on the same value. The first year is pro-rated by the days the item is held for earning rent, except in the pool, whose rates are not by the day.
What a ceiling fan cost installed, by year
- 2000$190
- 2010$229
- 2020$258
- 2026$309
The effective life of a ceiling fan fitted new in a property built in 2021 ends in 2026, while the building's own capital works deduction runs to the 2060–61 income year: see depreciation on a property built in 2021.
Price is for one item, supplied and installed.
By dwelling type
Our dwelling pages price a ceiling fan with the typical plant of a house in every state; two states of each:
Each is priced at its state's rates, and the state's own page sets the four types side by side: Victoria and Western Australia.
Common questions
What is the effective life of a ceiling fan?
5 years, as the Commissioner of Taxation determines it for "Ceiling fans" under "Assets generally" in the residential property operators' table of the Income Tax Assessment (Effective Life of Depreciating Assets) Determination 2025, which most schedules use (an owner may estimate its own instead, section 40-105). One other item here shares it: a security alarm system.
What is the depreciation rate for a ceiling fan?
40% a year under diminishing value (200% ÷ 5), taken from what is left of the value: $124 of the $309 it costs installed new in the first full year, $16 in the fifth. Or 20% a year under prime cost (100% ÷ 5), taken from the cost: $62 in the first full year, $61 in the fifth. An item first held before 10 May 2006 takes 150% ÷ 5 under diminishing value.
Can I claim a ceiling fan that came with the property?
Generally not, for an individual, a self-managed super fund or most trusts and partnerships that bought an established property at or after 7.30 pm on 9 May 2017 (section 40-27; the 2017 rules set out who it reaches and the exceptions). Such plant is still valued, at what it costs new in the year the property is bought less its age and condition: for a ceiling fan 3 years old in good condition, about $124 of the $309 new in 2026, a value whose decline can make a capital gain or loss when it is sold or scrapped. For a ceiling fan bought new for the property while it is let, and never used while it was the owner's home, deductions start on the day of installation.
What does it cost to install a ceiling fan?
About $309 installed new in 2026, from our cost database, and about $229 in 2010. The other items here nearest it in price are a water filter (about $167, with a 15-year life) and a heated towel rail (about $454, with a 10-year life).
Other items
General information only, not advice about your circumstances. Speak to a registered tax agent before relying on it.