Congress often creates tax incentives, but it is up to the IRS and courts to determine their implementation and interpretation. The Sec. 179D tax deduction is an example of this. The statute provides broad concepts but lacks substance, leading to the courts playing a crucial role in determining its implementation and interpretation. The details matter……
Tag: Real Estate
Section 1031 Exchange Into Jointly-Held Partnership Property
The Section 1031 exchange rules can help real estate investors defer paying tax on the transfer of property. Many real estate investors use these rules to upgrade their real estate portfolio over time. This tax deferral can be helpful as monies that would have been paid to the IRS in taxes can be rolled into……
Do Vacation Rentals Trigger Self-Employment Tax?
Short-term rental or vacation rental properties have increased in popularity. They are also popular investments. This includes real estate rented on Airbnb and its competitors, such as Vrbo, Booking.com, Tripadvisor, Agoda, Expedia, TUI Villas, TravelStaytion, HomeToGo, Plum Guide, and Google. Taxes are one reason for the increase in popularity. Short-term rentals can provide a number……
Defining Real Estate Activities Broadly
There are quite a few uses for raw land. It can be used for just about any type of business activity. If someone purchases raw land and starts to take steps to prepare the land for a business, how one characterizes the intended business use can allow or limit the deductions related to the property.……
Tax Planning for Demolished Buildings
It is often said that bad things happen in threes. This is a nice way of saying that too many bad things have happened in quick succession, so hopefully, the person will not suffer further calamities in the short term. Tax attorneys view calamities in terms of tax losses and/or net operating losses. As tax……
Rental Tax Losses for Those With Irregular Hours
Tax cases are interesting in that they apply a fairly well-developed set of rules to varying fact patterns. These varying fact patterns can result in surprising, and often unintended, consequences. The more complex the tax law in question, the more likely it is that the outcome will be something other than what Congress may have……
Sale of Residence: Poor Financial Decision
We all have financial ups and downs in life. Some of these ups and downs are due to circumstances beyond our control. Be it good luck, bad luck or something else. Many of these circumstances are not foreseeable. There are also circumstances that are due to our own making. Be it poor financial decisions or……
Converting Home to Rental to Get Tax Loss Deduction
If you move out of a house and rent it to a friend for less than fair market value rent, can you then take a tax loss on the subsequent sale of the house? If the home is not converted to a rental property, the loss is disallowed as a personal tax loss. If the……
What is a Rental Activity?
The ability to generate current year tax losses is a strong incentive for high-income taxpayers to own real estate. Real estate often produces tax losses, but not economic losses. This happens because the current operating expenses plus tax depreciation result in a current year loss. At the same time, the property likely increased in value……