Division 40 · front door
Video intercom: effective life and depreciation rate
In an apartment the intercom is common property, shared by unit entitlement; in a house it is the owner's asset in full.
- Effective life
- 10 yrs
- DV · PC rate
- 20% · 10%
- Installed new, 2026
- $592
Five years of a video intercom bought new
A video intercom costing $592, held for each full year, under each method. At $592 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, $519 over the five years against $398 at its own rate under diminishing value.
| Year | Diminishing value 20% | Prime cost 10% | Low-value pool |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $118 | $59 | $111 |
| 2 | $95 | $59 | $180 |
| 3 | $76 | $59 | $113 |
| 4 | $61 | $59 | $71 |
| 5 | $48 | $59 | $44 |
| Five years | $398 | $295 | $519 |
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 video intercom cost installed, by year
- 2000$364
- 2010$439
- 2020$495
- 2026$592
The effective life of a video intercom fitted new in a property built in 2016 ends in 2026, while the building's own capital works deduction runs to the 2055–56 income year: see depreciation on a property built in 2016.
Price is for one item, supplied and installed.
By dwelling type
Our dwelling pages price a video intercom with the typical plant of a townhouse, a unit and an apartment in every state; two states of each:
- A townhouse in South Australia
- A townhouse in Queensland
- A unit in the Australian Capital Territory
- A unit in New South Wales
- An apartment in the Northern Territory
- An apartment in the Australian Capital Territory
Each is priced at its state's rates, and the state's own page sets the four types side by side: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.
Common questions
What is the effective life of a video intercom?
10 years, as the Commissioner of Taxation determines it for "Intercom system assets" 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). Ten of the other 36 items here share it, among them a garage door motor and a pool pump.
What is the depreciation rate for a video intercom?
20% a year under diminishing value (200% ÷ 10), taken from what is left of the value: $118 of the $592 it costs installed new in the first full year, $48 in the fifth. Or 10% a year under prime cost (100% ÷ 10), taken from the cost: $59 in each of the first five. An item first held before 10 May 2006 takes 150% ÷ 10 under diminishing value.
Can I claim a video intercom 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 video intercom 5 years old in good condition, about $296 of the $592 new in 2026, a value whose decline can make a capital gain or loss when it is sold or scrapped. For a video intercom 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 video intercom?
About $592 installed new in 2026, from our cost database, and about $439 in 2010. The other items here nearest it in price are a microwave (about $586, with an 8-year life) and a garage door motor (about $643, 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.