Division 40 · kitchen
Dishwasher: effective life and depreciation rate
A dishwasher's 8-year life is short; a new one bought for the property while it is let is deductible from the day it is installed.
- Effective life
- 8 yrs
- DV · PC rate
- 25% · 12.5%
- Installed new, 2026
- $1,276
Five years of a dishwasher bought new
A dishwasher costing $1,276, held for each full year, under each method. At $1,276 it is above the $1,000 low-cost threshold, so it is deducted at its own rate. Under diminishing value its written-down value is $957 after one full year, under $1,000, so from year 2 it can go into the low-value pool.
| Year | Diminishing value 25% | Prime cost 12.5% |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $319 | $160 |
| 2 | $239 | $160 |
| 3 | $180 | $160 |
| 4 | $135 | $160 |
| 5 | $101 | $160 |
| Five years | $974 | $800 |
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 dishwasher cost installed, by year
- 2000$785
- 2010$945
- 2020$1,067
- 2026$1,276
The effective life of a dishwasher fitted new in a property built in 2018 ends in 2026, while the building's own capital works deduction runs to the 2057–58 income year: see depreciation on a property built in 2018.
Price is for one item, supplied and installed.
By dwelling type
Our dwelling pages price a dishwasher with the typical plant of a house, a townhouse, a unit and an apartment in every state; two states of each:
- A house in Tasmania
- A house in Queensland
- A townhouse in the Northern Territory
- A townhouse in Queensland
- A unit in Victoria
- A unit in Western Australia
- An apartment in Western Australia
- An apartment in Tasmania
Each is priced at its state's rates, and the state's own page sets the four types side by side: Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
Common questions
What is the effective life of a dishwasher?
8 years, as the Commissioner of Taxation determines it for "Dishwashers" under "Kitchen assets" 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). Four of the other 36 items here share it, among them a microwave and a television.
What is the depreciation rate for a dishwasher?
25% a year under diminishing value (200% ÷ 8), taken from what is left of the value: $319 of the $1,276 it costs installed new in the first full year, $101 in the fifth. Or 12.5% a year under prime cost (100% ÷ 8), taken from the cost: $160 in each of the first five. An item first held before 10 May 2006 takes 150% ÷ 8 under diminishing value.
Can I claim a dishwasher 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 dishwasher 4 years old in good condition, about $638 of the $1,276 new in 2026, a value whose decline can make a capital gain or loss when it is sold or scrapped. For a dishwasher 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 dishwasher?
About $1,276 installed new in 2026, from our cost database, and about $945 in 2010. The other items here nearest it in price are a pool chlorinator (about $1,288, with a 10-year life) and a refrigerator (about $1,160, with a 12-year life).
Other items
General information only, not advice about your circumstances. Speak to a registered tax agent before relying on it.