All Forum Posts by: Brandon Hall

Is Mary married and does her spouse qualify as a real estate professional?

Remember, Mr. Kiyosaki is not a tax expert :)

Wow yeah I normally try to defend CPAs but not in this instance.

Cost seg studies will usually range from $3k to $8k. The higher end being large multi-million dollar properties. @Yonah Weiss. 

I am sure $25k cost seg studies exist but I’ve never seen one and we work with some pretty big syndicates.

I can get behind the 1031 being a bad idea for certain reasons but definitely 100% not because capital gain taxes are “low.” I mean are you kidding? Obamacare jacked the rate up by 3.8% if MAGI is over $250k.

So yes, you have cause to be concerned. Honestly I would avoid this person at all costs. They are providing a large amount of misinformation on relatively common (for CPAs) tax topics.

@Kurt Granroth tax strategy is advisory. The compliance piece is the tax filing. You save money on the advisory, not compliance (unless mistakes were made that need to be corrected).

@Kurt Granroth are you on the GP or LP side or both?

Our client base is primarily made up of accredited investors who take LP stakes in deals and GPs of syndicates and funds. For our large clients we provide a fully functional finance department. For the LPs, we provide tax strategy and compliance.

And thanks @Brian Burke!!

Thanks @Mike Dymski ! It's been a pleasure working with you, and @Yonah Weiss too!

Thanks @Michael Plaks ! It's been a fun ride!

@Matt Millard @Stephen Thomas @Michael Plaks @Costin I.

There are few ways to lower your W-2 but plenty of ways to lower your taxable income. To get into the "drastically lower" area, you must meet certain minimum thresholds which is why I said "it depends."

If your taxable income is in excess of $157,501 if single and $315,000 if married filing joint, then I'd point you to a land conservation easement. You get a Sch A charitable deduction equal to a % of the basis you invested and drastically reduce your tax bill as a result. 

For example, if I put $50k into a conservation easement, I'd get roughly a $225k charitable contribution deduction. As long as that deduction amount is less than 50% of my AGI, I can take the full amount of the deduction via Sch A. Assuming I'm in the 35% tax bracket, my $50k contribution yields $78,750 in fed tax savings and also more on the state level depending on the state.

That is one of several ways to drastically lower your tax bill. And it's all 100% legal and legit. 

Of course, there are many aspects to a land conservation easement that must be considered prior to pulling the trigger, such as the fact that these are considered listed transactions, but if you're not willing to play ball, then you're stuck with your current tax situation. 

There are all the small things that can be done as well such as HSA, 401(k), starting a biz and deducting the costs, etc etc. Often times you can do all of that without having a CPA on your team. We aim to save our clients a significant amount of money. 

Hope that helps!

@Max T. having a real estate license does not help in claiming the RE Pro status unless the taxpayer switches from the W-2 job and becomes a salesperson full-time.

@Stephen Thomas there are things you can do but it largely depends on your current structure of income streams and exactly how much those income streams are brining in. There are ways to drastically offset W-2 income but I wouldn’t know if they are good ideas for you without seeing your entire financial picture.

Hire and accounting firm to do your bookkeeping and reporting.

Talk to @Scott Smith