All Forum Posts by: Lei Zhao
Lei Zhao has started 1 posts and replied 3 times.
Post: Leasing Agent Fee Tax Deductions
- Posts 3
- Votes 0
Originally posted by @Michael Plaks:
@Neil Narayan and @Wayne Brooks are both right.
If @Lei Zhao was supposed to receive $10,000 in rent and pay $1,000 commission to the agent, the net rent income was $9,000. By Neil's method, you report $10,000 income and deduct $1,000 commissions. By Wayne's method, you report $9,000 income and $0 commissions - same end result.
Neil's method is technically correct, but considering the lack of contract, I'd prefer Wayne's method. However, it can cause problems if, like Eamonn mentioned, the agent or the tenant report $10,000 rent to the IRS which is unlikely when dealing with people who do not even sign contracts.
Thanks so much @Michael Plaks. Very appreciate your professional insight. In my case, the commission of my agent is $1949 equal to 1-month of rent. Would postponed contract be sufficient to justify if get tax assessment?
Post: Leasing Agent Fee Tax Deductions
- Posts 3
- Votes 0
Originally posted by @Neil Narayan:
It is always a good idea to have a contract in place regardless but you should be able to write off the leasing fee but if you get audited you will need to provide proof.
Thank you so much for your response! Would it be too late to request documents for postponed contract?
Post: Leasing Agent Fee Tax Deductions
- Posts 3
- Votes 0
Hi Everyone, I'm new to the bigger pockets forum. Since the tax season is right around the corner, I'm wondering that how can I write off my leasing agent fee?
I worked with one for the leasing agents at Austin area, but we didn't sign a contract to talk about his commission. Tenants directly gave him the deposit & first month rent. Later, he Venmo me with the rest of money after deducting his commission. Should I asked for formal contract?