tax question

[Vicki Gleitz]

we own a brake and alignment shop.  paying double on social security, as you all know, is rough.  we have also been renting out our house in Bennett. we had a little plumbing problem that caused some damage last year. during repairs, it was discovered that there was asbestos in the glue for the flooring.  long story short, insurance took care of most of it, but it took about 5 months [ shouldn't have] During this time the bottom floor was totally sealed off and our tenants all stayed upstairs and paid half rent. so, we actually wound up losing some money on renting our home.

my question is, can the money lost in our rental be deducted BEFORE figuring our social security taxes on our shop?  { i realize,probably not, but hoping]

[Beth L.]

@Arlan Potter , I am the Payroll Manager at our corporation and I know the FICA requirements. In this guide from the IRS, it explains that the employee is responsible for 7.65% (SS and Medicare withheld from the paycheck and sent in by the employer), and the employer is responsible for matching the employee's amount (another 7.65% taken from the employer's funds, NOT the employee). So the total liabilities to employee a person is not only paying them their income, but also to match their FICA, among lots of other things.

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p15/ar02.html#en_US_2015_publink1000202402

(See Section 9 or Publication 15)

Sorry, @Vicki Gleitz we are off the subject. :-)