Attn Tax Professionals! Need guidance with business tax write off

[Marc Estepa]

As a landlord currently managing properties, everyone says that you are running a business. In doing so, do you get all the traditional protections and tax write offs as any other business owner?  

Doing my taxes last year, my former tax professional mentioned that I can take two trips a year to visit my properties out of state and to list their costs as a business tax write off.   

I only own two properties out of state currently, but how many different tax write offs are you allowed as a business owner? Do I need to create an LLC or have a business license in order to be official?

Up until I found BP about 4 months ago, I had no idea what I was doing.  I own properties I had purchased from previous duty stations and loosely managed them from out of state. 

Now that I’ve been enlightened on how to properly run this as a business, I have revamped everything.  I am doing more video calls, I’m revamping my book keeping, I've dedicated a separate room as a home office and basically spending more time properly running this business the way I should’ve years ago.  

As a result of spending a lot more time running this as a business - can I write off certain business expenses outside of two trips a year to visit my properties?  

For example, I purchased a new laptop and have purchased different software to help automate my systems for landlording.  I’ve purchased a desk, better lighting for video business calls and even set up a separate cellphone line dedicated for real estate alone.  Are these business tax write offs?  I’ve heard of people writing off a portion of their mortgage because a bedroom was dedicated as a business office.  

Mine isn’t exactly a glamorous business office as it’s the only space I could set aside in the house for some privacy.  It’s basically the dog’s room with tough boxes stacked on one another with a laptop in the corner of the house.  Does that count?!

Just looking for guidance on what’s allowed and what isn’t when it comes to tax write offs as a business owner.