Taxes

Foreclosures

Look Both Ways Before You Walk

by Richard Warren | December 5, 2011

So many people have walked away from homes that are hopelessly underwater. With little prospect of recouping their losses, or faced with a difficult personal financial situation, they have made a decision to let the bank foreclose. Prior to 2007 this would have resulted in an income tax liability on the amount of any forgiven [...]

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Taxes

Investors: Lower Your Taxes – Here’s How

by Jeff Brown | November 29, 2011
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We’re in the back stretch of 2011, which bodes well for folks contemplating some tax related moves. Here are some suggestions you may want to put into your own arsenal. Though basic in nature, I’ve learned most tax preparers definitely aren’t proactive in digging for tax savings beyond the normal deductions. You’ll notice a common [...]

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Taxes

Can Real Estate Investors Deduct Travel Expenses? Yes, but . . .

by Charles Perkins | September 1, 2011
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The Travel Deduction is Often Mishandled by Real Estate Investors Many real estate investors do not understand the rules and regulations related to the deduction of travel expenses. While real estate investors are allowed to deduct travel expenses, the deduction is limited when compared to business owners. Real estate investors are allowed to deduct ordinary [...]

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Real Estate Investing

How to Automate Your Real Estate Bookkeeping

by Andrew C. MacDonald | May 16, 2011
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One of the least popular tasks for many real estate investors is bookkeeping. Whether or not it is your cup of tea, I have a couple simple tips for automating the process so you can free up your time for some of the other tasks you like better. This system isn’t quite fully automated, but [...]

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Taxes

Real Estate Professional Status: The IRS Has Read Sun Tzu

by Clint Coons | March 25, 2011
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It would appear the IRS has read Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” and is applying his strategy of “avoiding what is strong to strike at what is weak.”  Albeit compared to four years ago the real estate market is weak even if it is beginning to show signs of stability.  So who better than [...]

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Real Estate

Considerations for April 15, 2011 Tax Deadline

by Clint Coons | March 19, 2011
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As we approach April 15, 2011, our call volume dramatically increases.  Individuals desperately seeking to reduce their 2010 tax liability inundate my firm with deduction related questions.  Ironically, like asset protection planning that begins upon notice of a lawsuit, tax planning for 2010 should have begun over a year ago; but alas, such is the [...]

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Taxes

Installment Sales or Dealer Status: Be on the Right Side of the Fence

by Kevin Kaczmarek | March 2, 2011
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As a real estate investor, when we hear about selling on contract terms it excites us!  Selling on contract terms opens a whole new buyer pool for our business and allows us to get better pricing for our houses. When we sell on contract, we as the sellers make assumptions on how the taxes are [...]

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Taxes

C Corporation: The Active Real Estate Investor’s Preferred Choice of Entity

by Clint Coons | November 25, 2010
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A common question among many real estate investors I meet is “should I form a C corporation or an S corporation for my short term investing (short term investing is commonly viewed as fix and flips, wholesaling, or just about any investing that does not have an investment intent.)?  My standard answer is almost always [...]

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Real Estate

An Alternative to The Self Directed IRA

by Clint Coons | November 11, 2010
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Last week I discussed some of the prohibited transaction rules concerning retirement accounts. The point of my post was to make readers aware of the minefields that exist when investing in real estate in these accounts. These rules apply to all forms of retirement accounts, i.e., IRA, 401(k), ROTH IRA, Defined Benefit Plans, ESOP, 401(a), [...]

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Real Estate Law

The Series LLC Experiment – Looking for Guinea Pigs

by Clint Coons | October 28, 2010
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When it comes to asset protection, I always tell my students and clients that segregating dangerous assets from each other is a sound strategy to limit overall risk exposure.  Best practice dictates that each asset should have its own entity.  For many people this could translate into to a multitude of business entities.  For example, [...]

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Real Estate Investing

Lowering Cap Gains Tax Bills Via Property Transaction Structure

by Jeff Brown | October 26, 2010
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If you’d like to take a sale on a property, but the tax hit will be painful, do some tax planning via the sale’s structure. This is the time of year when all kinds of slight modifications in a sale’s terms can result in solid tax savings. This year though, it might be problematic due [...]

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Taxes

2010 Small Business Act: You Have Been Drafted by the IRS

by Clint Coons | October 7, 2010
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In the off chance you missed your IRS draft notice I thought I would remind everyone of their new responsibilities. As you know, the United States has run up a huge deficit and spending is no where near under control. In an effort to appear as if steps are being taken to to address the [...]

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Taxes

How You Should Handle the IRS (and how to get an accountant)

by Jason Hanson | September 5, 2010

Last week I got a letter in the mail from the IRS. Of course, when I saw the envelope I thought two things: “Crap, I’m getting audited” and “crap, I owe them more money.” When I opened the envelope there were several documents, which I didn’t really understand (or have the patience to understand) and [...]

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Taxes

Recent Tax Court Ruling Denies IRS Sec.121 Gain Exclusion on Sale of a Personal Residence

by Clint Coons | August 24, 2010
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Have you ever considered tearing down and remodeling your personal residence? Better be careful because the IRS is watching and what appears on its face as an innocuous event can have serious tax ramifications for you down the road.  In a recent tax case the IRS was able to convince the Tax Court (Gates v. [...]

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Taxes

The Basics of “Real Estate Professional” Status for Tax Purposes

by J Scott | August 4, 2010

One of the biggest challenges real estate investors face is keeping the profits that they earn from their investments. Just like any other business, the IRS is going to want to take as big a chunk of your profits as possible, and knowing how to use the system to your advantage will help you keep [...]

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