Division 40 · apartment common areas and kitchens
Fire extinguisher: effective life and depreciation rate
In a strata building the extinguishers and hose reels are common property, shared by unit entitlement; of an extinguisher costing $36 installed new, any share is within the $300 write-off, unless the item is part of a set, or one of identical items acquired in the same income year, whose shares cost more than $300 together.
- Effective life
- 15 yrs
- DV · PC rate
- 13.33% · 6.67%
- Installed new, 2026
- $36
Five years of a fire extinguisher bought new
A fire extinguisher costing $36, held for each full year, under each method. At $36 it costs $300 or less, so a sole owner deducts the whole cost in the year it is installed (section 40-80(2)), unless it is part of a set, or one of identical items, costing more than $300 together. No rate applies to it then.
| Year | Diminishing value 13.33% | Prime cost 6.67% |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $36 written off in full | |
What a fire extinguisher cost installed, by year
- 2000$22
- 2010$27
- 2020$30
- 2026$36
The effective life of a fire extinguisher fitted new in a property built in 2011 ends in 2026, while the building's own capital works deduction runs to the 2050–51 income year: see depreciation on a property built in 2011.
Price is for one item, supplied and installed.
By dwelling type
Our dwelling pages price a fire extinguisher with the typical plant of a unit and an apartment in every state; two states of each:
- A unit in the Northern Territory
- A unit in the Australian Capital Territory
- An apartment in New South Wales
- An apartment in Western Australia
Each is priced at its state's rates, and the state's own page sets the four types side by side: New South Wales, Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.
Common questions
What is the effective life of a fire extinguisher?
15 years, as the Commissioner of Taxation determines it for "Extinguishers" under "Fire control 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). Seven of the other 36 items here share it, among them a water filter and a gas space heater.
What is the depreciation rate for a fire extinguisher?
13.33% a year under diminishing value (200% ÷ 15), taken from what is left of the value, or 6.67% under prime cost (100% ÷ 15), taken from the cost. At $36, though, one that is not part of a set, or of identical items, costing more than $300 together is written off in the year it is installed instead (section 40-80(2)). An item first held before 10 May 2006 takes 150% ÷ 15 under diminishing value.
Can I claim a fire extinguisher 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 fire extinguisher 8 years old in good condition, about $17 of the $36 new in 2026, a value whose decline can make a capital gain or loss when it is sold or scrapped. For a fire extinguisher 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 fire extinguisher?
About $36 installed new in 2026, from our cost database, and about $27 in 2010. The other items here nearest it in price are a smoke alarm (about $122, with a 6-year life) and an exhaust fan (about $128, 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.