Writing off the remodel expense for a rental property

[Saman Jafari]

Hey all,

I am on W2 and curious if I can pay less tax by writing off the remodel expenses of a rental property (that’s is under my name).

As an example, if I earn 80k, and I remodel my rental property by spending 40k. 
would that 40k tax deductible, and I end up paying tax only for 40k?

[Paul Defngin]

Quote from @Saman Jafari:

Hey all,

I am on W2 and curious if I can pay less tax by writing off the remodel expenses of a rental property (that’s is under my name).

As an example, if I earn 80k, and I remodel my rental property by spending 40k. 
would that 40k tax deductible, and I end up paying tax only for 40k?

You're best course of action here is to seek the advise of a CPA. There are some on this forum - and maybe one can chime in. That said, since you are now an investor, I recommend that you get yourself a good CPA. The money you spend is well-worth it in my opinion because they'll be well versed on all the ins-and-outs of what you can and cannot do to minimize your tax liabilities and maximize your deductions, as well as do forward tax planning with you. 

That said, even when you get a good CPA, it's still recommended that you review and ask questions all the time. I can't tell you how many times, I've seen clients come to me with their tax returns and I see so many things that their CPA either did not claim or discuss with them.  The common response I get from most is, "Well, I gave all my documents to my CPA and they prepared and filed it for me."  

No matter what the CPA prepared, it's still ulitimately our responsibility to review and understand the numbers on the Tax Return as it's ours and not theirs. As they saying goes, "One Cares More About Your Money Than You".