Bonus Depreciation - 100% Write off True or Not?

[Jeff Williams]

Hi BP, 

My wife inherited some money from her mom and we are looking to avoid paying taxes on the money next year.  We are both W2 employees (me full time and her part time).  We are considering buying a rental income property this year in order to write off the amount we would have to pay next year.  We are trying to find the questions to the following, but every CPA we talk to gives a different explanation.  

-Would we be able to write off 100% of the amount used to purchase the property using bonus depreciation? (We would use cash).  

-Do we need to purchase the property under and LLC in order to write it off?

-Do Banks allow you to refinance a property thats was bought under and LLC name? In my experience they don't like to lend to LLC's.

If there are any CPA's in the New York Metro area that have extensive experience with real estate and this type of write off we would love to chat. 

Thanks!

[Marco G.]

@Jeff Williams

We do you think the inheritance will be taxed? Federal must exceed $11.58M, NY state must exceed $5.25M before taxes kick in (from my quick Google). Only the amount over those exemptions is taxed. If you’re coming into that type of money this is not the best place to be asking for advice.