Strategies to Reduce Your Tax Liability as a Real Estate Flipper

Anderson Business Advisors Podcast

In this episode of Tax Tuesday with Anderson Advisors attorneys Toby Mathis, Esq., and Eliot Thomas, Esq., the pressing tax questions from listeners have a special focus on real estate issues. They dive into the complexities of tax benefits for short-term and long-term rental properties, addressing specific monetary scenarios. Toby and Eliot also explore the nuances of passive losses and real estate professional status, evaluating how a limited partnership investment and syndications impact tax strategies. Additionally, they clarify the effects of installment sales on capital gains tax, the tax implications of long-term capital gains for incomes below $93,000, and strategies for reducing tax liability as a real estate flipper. You’ll hear about the mechanics of 1031 exchanges, the use of solar credits against passive income, and the treatment of repairs versus improvements on rental properties. Tune in for expert advice on optimizing your tax situation in the real estate world.
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Highlights/Topics:

• "Professor One has three short-term rentals, seven days or less." "He generates $20,000 of profit from each one, but each generates $60,000 of losses, cost seg plus bonus depreciation." "Can he use 20% QBI?" that's 199A. "Can you use it on the $20,000 profits, or will those be offset by the $60,000 losses, and the net will be $40,000 each?" –We can't. We have to take in the $60,000 loss that's associated with each of those buildings. We don't take QBI against the loss. No, QBI would not be available here.
• "Professor Two has four long term rentals, and he used line depreciation for all of them." "His wife is a real estate professional, but there's not enough losses to offset his $300,000 grand in income. The CPA suggests putting $200,000 in a syndication as an LP. K1 will generate $150,000 of losses. As long as his wife is REP, he can use those passive losses to offset his W-2. Is that true?" – Because we're introducing a syndication, and this is a limited partner, that's the LP here at K-1, we're going to have to meet that test, the 500-hour test. In other words, to get our REP status, if we didn't use the 500-hour test, we may not be able to do that. That's why I say it depends.
• "Professor Three has one passive long-term rental and just bought two short-term rentals with seven days or less with cost seg plus bonus depreciation. Next year, 2025, his wife plans to retire and claim real estate professional status. The plan is to keep those short-term rentals as Airbnb with eight days or more, a.k.a passive, and keep the long-term rental as is. The first question is, can the wife manage, clean those Airbnbs and claim the 750 hours without touching the third long-term rental that is far away and group them all together?" – I'm going to say no, because remember, a short-term rental isn't rental activity. It's the pizza shop, okay, that Toby keeps talking about. But we have other ideas.
• “The second question is whether we can still use the losses from the cost seg we conducted on those two short-term rentals this year." – Losses will stay passive into the future, so no.
• "I have a question about capital gains tax. I'm selling a property with an installment payment plan. Only two installments to be received. The first will be received December of 2024, the second and last payment will be January 2025. How will this affect my capital gains tax?" – Simplistically, it's just going to split them.
• "Paying tax on real estate long-term gain. If my net income is under $93,000 in 2024, will I owe taxes on long-term capital gains from the sale of real estate, a vacation rental? The gain itself is over $93,000." – if you are below approximately $94,000 in 2024, it's going to be taxed at zero.
• "How do I reduce my tax liability as a flipper?" – Do it in a C-Corp or S-Corp, besides just immediate tax deductions, we want to avoid dealer status.
• Reverse exchange 1031. "Please help us understand it. How do I choose a QI, which stands for qualified intermediary? Any recommendations for first-time 1031 exchangers?" – you're first buying the replacement property and then you're deciding within 45 days which you're going to give up. And so it's just the opposite direction. You have 108 days total from close to close.
• "Is it possible to use solar credits against passive income from real estate rent income?” – Yes. You can have a solar credit. You could do it on your personal home, which would create an ordinary loss. The nature of the activity that the solar is attached to might have something to do with its tax treatment.
• "How do you determine if a repair and a rental property can be treated as an expense in the current year or must be depreciated?" – If you're making the property more valuable by doing it, that's not a repair. You're making it more valuable.
• "Hi, my husband and I want to sell a new construction home business to become full-time investors and manage our five large commercial properties. In the past, we've had real estate professional status because we self-managed our commercial properties. If we sell our construction business, do we still qualify for rep status if we start a management company to manage our commercial properties and earn W-2 income from this new company? What type of entity would be best to set up a management company, LLC, S-corp, or C-corp? – using that management company that you own yourself, certainly you can use that towards your time.

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