Tax-Free Home Sale: Home Sale Exclusion, When and Why to Report it to the IRS
You’re probably aware that when you sell your home, you may exclude up to $250,000 of your gain from tax if you’re unmarried (or married, filing separately) and $500,000 if you are married and file jointly. To claim the whole exclusion, you must have owned and lived in your home as your principal residence for an […]
Real Estate Professional Status & Passive Losses
Deducting your rental property tax losses against your other income is tricky, as you likely know. You have to get the tax law to treat you—say, a computer engineer—as a tax-code–defined real estate professional (IRS publication 925 discusses passive activity and At-Risk Rules and page 8 further explains Real Estate Professional Status). Let’s say you […]
Avoiding the Self-Rental Trap
Let’s say you own a building. Now, let’s say that you rent this building to your business. With no tax planning, you have a self-rental, and that So, there you have it: a self-rental to your business with no tax planning, you will get the worst of both worlds. Yikes! Solution But wait—there’s a solution […]
Transferring Your Home to Your Adult Child
With today’s home prices and the crazy real estate market, it’s likely difficult for your children to buy a home. And it’s conceivable that you are ready to move on from your existing home. If this is true, consider the three options below for transferring your home to your adult child. Option 1: Make an […]