When you think of the reverse mortgage, you may not think of using it as a tax planning tool. If you are house rich but cash poor, the reverse mortgage can give you the cash you desire, save you a…
The strategy behind creating an S corporation and then selling your home to that S corporation comes into play when you want to convert your home to a rental property and take advantage of the exclusions, or you need more…
If you do some work at home, you’re probably using your home internet connection. Are your monthly internet expenses deductible? Maybe. The deduction rules depend on your choice of business entity (proprietorship, corporation, or partnership). Deduction on Schedule C If…
Do you own or lease non-residential (think “commercial”) real property for your business, or rent non-residential real property to others? If so, interior improvements you make to the property may be fully deductible in a single year instead of over…
When you own rental property, depreciation is your best friend. One reason depreciation is so valuable is that, unlike deductible rental property expenses such as interest and maintenance, you get to claim depreciation year after year without having to pay…
When you use a home for both rental and personal use, regardless of that home’s location at the beach or in the city, you run into the tax code’s vacation home rules that make that home either a residence or…
Do you have a sideline activity that you think of as a business? From this sideline activity, are you claiming tax losses on your Form 1040? Will the IRS consider your sideline a business and allow your loss deductions? The…
Tax-advantaged retirement accounts such as IRAs are a great way to save for retirement. But when you establish a traditional IRA with a bank, a brokerage, or a trust company, you are ordinarily limited to a narrow range of investment…
After reaching age 50, you can make additional “catch-up” contributions to certain types of tax-advantaged retirement accounts. For the 2021 tax year, this opportunity is available if you’ll be age 50 or older on Friday, December 31, 2021. Specifically, with…
When the individual production activity of a partner is outside his or her capacity as a member of the partnership, the partnership has two choices: Allocate the production income to the partner, and have the partner treat the expenses as…
