Is cash-flow considered a demerit for tax purposes?

[Amnaya A.]

My buyer's agent continually tells me that I should not worry about a positive cash flow to back-calculate an offer. Why? Because you don't want to show income (of cash flow) on your tax return, or else you'll be taxed on it. According to the agent, money on rentals is made in tax deductions, so the investor should focus on that and not worry about 'meager' cash flows.

I'm a newbie :-). Is this wisdom correct? This goes drastically against most of the 'How to evaluate and offer on rentals' webinars posted on BP.

Thanks in advance.