If you own rental properties, gaining “real estate professional” status can save you a ton of money. Why? Because if you can legitimately claim that you’re a real estate professional you can deduct rental property losses against your other income! Does this mean you have to give up your current career and tend to your rentals 100% of the time? Absolutely not… but there are … [Read more...]
Capital Gains
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How to use estate tax rules to avoid income tax
Want to create a tax-shelter that eliminates capital gains, recapture taxes, and gives your heirs a nice tax break? All you have to do is die. Oh, I know you may not want to rush to take advantage of this extreme tax strategy but you should know that keeping your home until death has distinct advantages. At death, your estate avoids both capital gains and recapture taxes, … [Read more...]
How the IRS uses the Tax Assessor against you
The Web is a fabulous invention, but the IRS has figured out how to use it against you. Here’s the story… For your rental properties, you need proof of your cost-allocation to land and depreciable building. If you don’t have proof of that allocation, the IRS has started using the Web to grab the tax assessor’s allocation and use that number to compute your depreciation … [Read more...]
Time to take those last-minute tax deductions
The clock is ticking and soon it will be 2012. Which is why you should act now and check out the proven end-of-year tax-planning strategies I highlight in my new article. These last-minute tax planning ideas can help you create or push more deductions into this year so your 2011 tax bill will be lower. Lots of extremely useful information is waiting for you in my new … [Read more...]
When to claim your garage as home-office space
Do you claim a deduction for an office in your home? What about your garage? Yes. I know it’s surprising, but if you comply with IRS regulations, you may be able to include your garage, or part of it, when you calculate your business-use percentage. You’ll get the details when you check out my new article titled Tax Tips: Can Home Office Tax Deductions include Garage … [Read more...]