Latest Posts on USATaxAid's Blogs

Tax-Free Benefits or Not? You Be the Judge!

One of the biggest benefits of having a business is the benefits! If you can get tax-free benefits, so much the better. That means you get to take a deduction at the business side, plus not have to pay taxes on it personally. The challenge is that too many people focus on the big, flashy benefits, which often aren’t truly tax-free, and ignore the hundreds of smaller ones that can make a huge difference... Read More »

Investor or Business Owner? The Right Structure Makes a HUGE Difference

When it comes to taxes, there’s a big tax difference between a real estate investor and a real estate business owner. We’re seeing interest from both types these days, especially from folks wanting to set up a business structure to protect their personal assets, as they come back into the market. But it’s important that you get into the right structure, or you could wind up overpaying your taxes. The difference between the two is... Read More »

Tax Issues With Walking Away From a Rental Property

Are you looking at an upside down real estate rental that is eating you alive in payments? There are a number of options, if you’ve got the cash flow to make it through the challenge. One of them could be just holding on until the market turns or finding a way to attract more or better tenants. But if you’re broke, and not able to keep going, you have a limited number of options.... Read More »

The IRS’s Dirty Little Trick on Real Estate Investors - Material Participation Rules

You might have heard about the benefit of real estate paper losses. In other words, you’ve got cash flow you put in your pocket, but it’s not only completely tax free, you’ve also got losses you can use to offset your other income. So it’s tax-free cash flow and even less taxes than you normally pay. Fantastic! Who wouldn’t love it! But the problem is that if you make too much income (over... Read More »

Rent to Own Problems

The real estate seminar goo roos are starting up again. Look for trouble if you’re receiving off-the-shelf, one size fits all advice. Now, let’s be clear: I love a seminar approach when you get good information and meet other people who are successful in the same thing you are learning. But I get mad when there is information given that is incomplete, outdated or plain illegal. It’s even worse when you’ve... Read More »

The New World of Real Estate Loopholes

Too bad real estate didn’t come with little game cards that told you what would happen in the future and what your cash flow, expenses and appreciation would be. Back in the go-go years of real estate, a married couples, both medical professionals, came into my office. They were so proud of themselves because they had taken the first step out of the rat race by buying their first real estate investment. They had a simple... Read More »

Carrying a Note Can Cost You Big Time

One of the hottest creative real estate strategies is, again, seller financing. If the banks cut off the lending (which they largely have), then it’s going to be up to the seller and the buyer to work something out. This past week my husband Richard told me about one of the prospective clients who had called in. In this case, the creative real estate investor, Warren, was still flipping properties. The issue was that his... Read More »

Safely Using Real Estate Professional Status To Pay Less Tax

The real estate professional status can be a godsend if you are holding real estate that is losing money. Here’s the deal on deducting real estate losses: You can deduct up to $25,000 of real estate losses in which you actively participate provided you make less than $100K per year. If you make over $150K per year, you can’t deduct anything. Between $100K and $150K, the amount of loss phases out. If you’re a real estate professional with material... Read More »

Form 1099-A & Form 1099-C Problems

If you’ve recently gone through a foreclosure, deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, short sale or loan modification, you’re probably feeling pretty beat up and drained. It’s an arduous process that the banks seem to prolong as much as possible. I wish I could tell you that you’re through with the problems from the upside down real estate you just cleared up. There’s one more issue – taxes. Yesterday we talked about the three steps for your taxes you... Read More »

Tax Implications of Dumping Bad Real Estate

The most active blog posts we’ve gotten at USTaxAid have to do with the tax consequences of getting rid of bad real estate. When and how do you report a Form 1099-A? When and how do you report a Form 1099-C? Today we’re going to look at some of the planning that you should do first before you walk away from upside down real estate. There are 4 common strategies for dealing with severely upside... Read More »

2010 Creating Cash Flow Slow

There a lot of people out there who want to help you create cash flow quick. The question, of course, is whose cash flow they want to improve when the only goal seems to be to sell you a pricey seminar, course or consulting program. But, don’t get me wrong – I believe in education and believe you need to pay to get quality education. But it’s not worth anything if you don’t put... Read More »

Nexus Horror Stories That Could Happen To You

Got a small biz? Then pay attention to today’s blog. It’s the horror stories of what can happen when you ignore nexus in another state.

Take a look at the past week’s blogs to get a bit of a heads up on what nexus is and how easy it can be to fall under another state’s tax umbrella.

Here are some real life... Read More »