Is BiggerPockets membership tax deductable?

Question

Hi everyone,

Upon signing up I remembered hearing somewhere that a membership to BiggerPockets is tax deductable because it is business related. Any truth to this?

Matthew T Cuff · Answer

100% Deductible. I deduct it as an educational expense.

Daniel Hyman · Answer

@Alex Cordero

Yes, there is truth to that.

Here is what the IRS says:

To be deductible, a business expense must be both ordinary and necessary. An ordinary expense is one that is common and accepted in your trade or business. A necessary expense is one that is helpful and appropriate for your trade or business. An expense does not have to be indispensable to be considered necessary.

Michael Plaks · Answer

@Alex Cordero - welcome aboard!

Can't help gently pointing out that, despite assurances from my colleagues @Daniel Hyman, @Ashish Acharya and @Basit Siddiqi, it is not automatically "100% deductible." Not much in the tax law is 100%. :)

Most of the time it is deductible - provided that you already operate trade or business. If you already have deals under your belt and are actively involved in your business - then it is 100% yes.

Examples when it may not be deductible:

• you have not yet started doing deals, just learning
• you have one rental property on auto-pilot, doing nothing but collecting rent and paying mortgage
• you loaned money to someone who is doing the deal, and you're not involved

There are more examples, but even in these circumstances BP membership could still be deductible. It's just no longer automatic and may require some creativity.

Basit Siddiqi · Answer

@Alex CorderoAn expense must be ordinary, necessary and reasonable for an item to be deductible.Real estate investors are expected to network to be successful in this industry.

100% deductible!

Ashish Acharya · Answer

It sure is.

Andy Becker · Answer

Similarly would Bigger Pockets books be tax deductible if you already have a RE business setup?

Curran D Bishop · Answer

Found payment history in profile > payments > Transaction History > view receipt

Curran D Bishop · Answer

To claim the deduction I'm trying to find my receipt from BiggerPockets to itemize my membership: anyone know how to view your payment history with BP? I can't find any email acknowledging the actual amount of the payment...

Is BiggerPockets membership tax deductable?

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