Section 179 and Real Estate

[Mark Abele]

As many have said in previous Section 179 posts, for real estate it is hard to generate enough tax liability to be able to take full advantage of what section 179 can provide. That being said, is a reasonable strategy to pair it with years where you sell a few rental properties with large amounts of capital gains? Anyone done something like this?

[Michael Plaks]

@Mark Abele

Section 179 is generally not compatible with rental properties. It certainly cannot be used to offset capital gains.

There is some debate whether we can use Section 179 for a larger portfolio of rentals that would qualify as a 
"trade or business."