Socratic questioning, well executed, can lead to quick and in depth learning, at a high level. Ever wondered if depreciation can be ‘planned’?
Socratic Questioning Part 2 — Video
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Category Archives: IRS
What Do I Owe In Capital Gains Taxes When I Sell My Investment Property?
You might think selling a piece of real estate is a simple tax situation, but you would be wrong. Many considerations need to be thought out. Not the least of which is determining the original basis and the adjusted basis at time of sale. When you know your basis you can determine if there is a gain or loss on sale. If there is a gain you may also have depreciation recapture. The worst thing that can happen though is that inadequate records were kept.
BASIS
Determining the proper basis is not as easy as looking up the original purchase price. It is not uncommon that investors spend time and money in the acquisition process. You might have travel expenses related to your inspection of the property; you might have hired someone to inspect various properties for you. Many of these due diligence costs must be added to the basis of the property you purchase. When you purchase the property there are also acquisition costs paid, like a title search and recording fees. Loan related fees are not added to the basis of a property.
GAIN OR LOSS ON SALE Continue reading
If This Is All You Do — You’re NOT A Real Estate Investor
I love what’re known as flippers in the real estate context. They rock. Think about it for a second. They buy a run down, often ugly piece of real estate, usually a home. Then they work their magic, turning it into something that sells relatively quickly, and usually for a happy profit. It takes a high skill level in many areas to make it work. There are so many ways a flip can go wrong. Yet, many of these folks succeed time after time. I’ve done rehabs myself, back in the day, but nothin’ like what goes on now. Furthermore, in my rehabs I was the guy in the suit, walkin’ around the place as if he knew what was what. 
It’s important to note, however, that flippers are very analogous to those who buy old cars, make ‘em like new, then sell ‘em. Ever bought a refurbished computer? Same deal. If there’s a demand for it, you can bet there are those earning a handsome living buyin’ ‘em cheap, fixin’ ‘em up, then sellin’ ‘em for a nice profit. Continue reading
First Step In Understanding Depreciation Recapture – What Is Basis?
Some of you may have read my earlier post I wrote on depreciation recapture. I got several comments after the post asking for a translation. Seems I got caught up speaking in that foreign language of IRS codes and provided no cipher.
To help you better understand depreciation recapture, I’m going to explain three key concepts so that you can better understand how it affects taxes paid. These three concepts are:
Basis / Adjusted Basis in property
Gain on Sale
Depreciation recapture related to the gain
Original Basis Continue reading
Real Estate Investors – What Is Depreciation Recapture?
We often talk about special capital gains treatment for real or personal property we sell. Reality is that real and personal property are not capital assets and don’t fall under these rules. Real property is given favorable gains treatment under section 1231 instead.
Almost from the beginning congress decided that because depreciation can be used to offset ordinary income that special rules should be in place to treat any future gain as ordinary as well. Since the 1960s there have been depreciation recapture rules.
What is depreciation recapture?
Depreciation recapture doesn’t add to a taxable gain it’s a method of determining the tax treatment of any gain. Basically depreciation recapture is a method determining how much of any gain should be treated as ordinary income as opposed to getting a special capital gains treatment.
How it works Continue reading