If you claim status as a tax-law-defined real-estate professional, you’ll be able to deduct your rental-property losses. But “claiming” that you’re a tax-law-defined real-estate professional is very different from proving that you are. And the IRS wants proof that you… Spend more than one-half of your personal service time in real-property trades or businesses in which … [Read more...]
Passive income and losses
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Tax Time Bomb: Passive Foreign Investment Companies
Thinking about owning a passive foreign investment company (PFIC)? Perhaps through a (non-U.S.-owned) mutual fund? Our advice, in just one word, is… “don’t!” Why? Because the IRS punishes owners of PFICs with high tax-rates and extremely burdensome reporting requirements. You might think that all this doesn’t apply to you, but you may be in for a big, nasty surprise. You … [Read more...]
Beat the passive-loss rental-property rules
If you’re a savvy taxpayer, you want to deduct your business, rental, and non-rental losses whenever possible. Why? Because these deductions put cash in your pocket (which makes the losses easier to bear). But be aware. The passive-loss rules put your legitimate tax losses into a tax-loss prison and releases them only when you have passive income (or dispose of the … [Read more...]
Don’t let passive losses destroy your tax-favored capital gains
Do you own rental properties? If you do, I hope they’re producing a nice cash flow for you. But sadly, that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes your rentals produce losses which the IRS classifies as “passive losses” for tax purposes. This is not necessarily terrible because you can deduct those losses against passive income you’ve earned. The rental property losses that … [Read more...]
How to avoid the “self-rental” trap
Here’s the “self-rental” story in a nutshell: You own a business that needs office space… So you buy a building and rent office space to your business… You collect the rent and depreciate the property… Your business gets to deduct the rent it pays you… As a result, the money never leaves your pocket. Sounds great, right? Well, it is if you know the special rules that apply … [Read more...]