So, you’re a Canadian, or other non-US citizens, who own and rents out US property, hasn’t yet obtained an ITIN and you don’t expect to make your June 15, 2018, 1040NR filing due date. No worry, go ahead and file an extension request on Form 4868 by writing “ITIN to be requested” on SSN line of the form.

Note – if US tax is due and paid after June 15, then the late payment penalty (usually ½ of 1% of any tax) and related interest does arise. But your extension is assisting you regarding the late filing penalty (usually 5% of the amount due for each month or part of a month your return is late; the maximum penalty is 25%) that is usually charged if your return is filed after the due date – as such due date includes extensions. Read More

No matter the location, size, or value of a second home, certain tax advantages are built in. However, your opportunity to benefit from them depends on how you use the property.

Personal Use

Both property taxes and mortgage interest are as deductible for a second home as they are for your primary residence — and are subject to the same limitations. If you file a joint return, you cannot deduct interest on more than $1 million of acquisition debt ($500,000 for married persons filing separately) on one or two homes.

Two tax advantages of homeownership are not available for a second home — the immediate deduction of mortgage points when purchasing and the capital gain exemption when selling. Both tax breaks require the home to be your “principal residence.” However, you can deduct the points on your second home’s mortgage over the loan’s term.

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I keep saying this, “The world is shrinking!”, ad nauseum perhaps, but I just cannot seem to get over that. When I went into the tax profession 15 years ago, I never thought I’d be reading as many tax treaties as I do now! I found out that the US had a Tax Treaty with Ukraine this year! Go figure!

Speaking of a shrinking globe, Inter-Governmental Agreements and Tax Treaties, it was uncanny this tax season, I had more than my share of clients who had a property or two in foreign countries by way of an inheritance or purchase and after having held it for a while as investments, they were now contemplating turning them into rentals.

I had written about owning foreign real estate a few blog-posts ago. You can read Read More

Back to my friends that I previously wrote about who misunderstood passive activity and material participation. They are a married couple filing jointly and own a very successful business together structured as an S-corporation as well as a portfolio of rental real estate properties. They actually consider themselves privileged to have their their tax woes shared anonymously via this tax blog which is helpful as I appreciate any opportunity to share how real life scenarios are applied to the US internal revenue code.

One of the properties my friends own – titled in their personally names jointly – has as a tenant an S-Corporation in which they each also own 50% of the shares issued and outstanding. Basically they hold title to the rental property – a large office warehouse complex – and they own the corporation that rents the property. Unfortunately this rental Read More

[Reg. §1.168(i)-4(b)] [Reg. §1.165-9(b)(2)]

Many people have built impressive residential real estate portfolios one property at a time, living in the property while fixing it up thus declaring it their primary residence for income tax purposes and then moving onto a new house to fix up and subsequently rent out, and repeat. Several of my friends in Colorado, Minnesota and Wisconsin are doing this to one or more homes per year. Good for them!

For those with the tools and the skill set it is a great way to navigate life. For me, I know as a matter of fact my wife would have divorced me 3 time over if this was my calling. She just has a thing about living in a kept up uncluttered house. Nevertheless my friends usually Read More

If a taxpayer converts a personal residence to rental property, he can deduct expenses against rental income. The basis for depreciation is the lesser of the adjusted basis or fair market value at the date it is converted to rental property. If the taxpayer does not materially participate in and actively manage the property, the losses from rentals are treated as passive losses and cannot be deducted in the current year. They are suspended and carried forward and can offset rental income of future years but any resulting loss is not deductible and is carried forward.

If a taxpayer continues to have non deductible passive losses, they accumulate and can be offset against the gain on the sale of the property. If the gain on the sale exceeds the cumulative non deductible losses, a question arises as to whether the gain is taxable and Read More