What are the tax implications of paying myself to property manage?

[Brendan M.]

I just bought my first multifamily property and I have been thinking about how to maximize my tax benefits on it. If i can write off property management fees as an expense, can I pay myself (either as a sole proprietor or LLC) then write that off as an expense as well? Would the tax benefits of writing it off as an expense just be balanced out by having to pay tax on it on the receiving (PM) side? Thanks!

[Lin Qian]

I know this is an old thread but this may help some.  The benefit of paying property management fee to yourself as earned income is the possibility of more expense deductions which could result to a smaller tax payment. If you have passive income only, you cannot deduct health care insurance premium, or dependent care cost. With management fee as earned income, you would be able to. If your self employment income is not high, it's likely that your deduction saves you more tax than the self employment tax you would pay. Other benefit is that you could also claim home office expense.