Tax write-offs Paying family members to rehab a house

[Jeffrey Rittenour]

Hello everyone! I'm in the Spokane WA Market. I've purchased and rented my first rental. During the rehab I hired my family who have a background in construction and painting to do the work for me as I work long hours. I told them to keep track of their hours for me to pay them. All the materials were payed for in cash. What is the best way to pay my family members to so I can take it as a tax write off? Do I just write each member a check and keep a receipt detailing what they did and how much I payed them? I'm pretty sure I can call it an expense but I want to make sure I do it right. Also the cash for materials was cash from things I sold on Craigslist that never was in my bank account. Can I call all of the recipients that I have expenses or not? Hope that makes sense. Thanks for the show! Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Holly McKhann]

Make sure your family understands they'll be paying taxes on everything you paid them when you write it off.  I often have contractors complain when I say I need a w-9 from them and say "I would have charged you much more if I knew your were going to 1099 me!"  You could jeopardize your family relationships by having them be surprised next year when they get hit with their tax bill from working for you.  Have an open discussion about it BEFORE you issue those 1099s.