The Book on Tax Strategies for the Savvy Real Estate Investor: Powerful techniques anyone can use to deduct more, invest smarter, and pay far less to the IRS!

by Amanda Han, Matthew MacFarland

Overview

Find smart deductions, invest wisely, and pay less to the IRS with this tax guide filled with powerful techniques for real estate investors.“Your savings begin just by reading this” (Brian Burke, CEO of Praxis Capital and author of The Hands-Off Investor).

Did you know that the right tax strategy will save you thousands of dollars every year?! Take control of your bookkeeping practices now—and take the sting out of tax season-—with the ultimate strategy guide for real estate investors.

In this book, investor-friendly CPAs Amanda Han and Matthew MacFarland bring a combined four decades of experience to help you hold onto your hard-earned dollars with powerful tax strategies designed specifically for investors like you. With more than 100,000 copies sold, this refreshing, approachable guide has helped thousands of investors take the stress out of tax season with smart, proactive techniques.

Inside, you'll learn how to:

• Maximize your tax deductions with creative methods—and write off vacations, home office, and travel expenses
• Spot the pros and cons of an LLC and learn when—or if—you need to start one
• Spend less time bookkeeping and more time doing what you love
• Fund investments with your retirement accounts
• Painlessly protect yourself from an IRS audit

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780990711766
Publisher:	BiggerPockets Publishing
Publication date:	02/18/2016
Series:	Tax Strategies , #1
Pages:	191
Sales rank:	98,652
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Amanda Han of Keystone CPA specializes in creating tax-saving strategies for real estate investors. She is certified by the CA State Board of Accountancy and is a member of the prestigious American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) with clients across the nation. As a real estate investor of more than ten years, she combines her passion of investing with her tax expertise to help others supercharge their wealth and keep more of what they make. Her cutting-edge tax strategies—including entity structuring, self-directed investing, and income-offset opportunities—have been featured on prominent platforms including Money Magazine, Realtor.com, and “Talks at Google.” Amanda is the co-author of the Tax Strategies series, including the bestseller Tax Strategies for the Savvy Real Estate Investor, which has sold more than 50,000 copies. Amanda currently lives in Fullerton, CA.

Matt MacFarland is a CPA of more than 20 years that specializes in tax strategies for real estate, self-directed investing, and individual tax planning. He has also invested in real estate for more than 10 years with a focus on long-term hold residential and multi-family assets. As both a tax strategist and real estate investor, Matt focuses on the development of tax strategies for real estate investors across the nation—including retirement investing, entity structuring, expense maximization, and income offset strategies to help reduce the investor’s tax burden. Matt is the co-author of the Tax Strategies series, including the bestseller Tax Strategies for the Savvy Real Estate Investor, which has sold more than 50,000 copies. Matt currently lives in Fullerton, CA.

Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Deductions 13

What Can You Really Deduct? 15

Dare to Deduct That? 21

A Clever Way to Write Off Your Kids 29

Writing Off Every Penny Of Your Vacation 35

Maximizing Your Write Offs of Travel Expenses 43

Squeezing the Most Benefit from Your Home Office 49

Entities 57

Your Legal Entities the Right Way 59

Legal Entity Lies Exposed 65

One Size Does Not Fit All 77

How to Wake Up from Your Bookkeeping Nightmare 79

Retirement Planning 91

Taking Control of Your Retirement Money 93

Using Retirement Accounts to Fund Your Investments 101

One Big and Costly Mistake 109

IRS Pitfalls 117

Depreciation: A Powerful Tax Tool for Real Estate Investors 119

How to Gift Properties to Your Family and Not the IRS 129

Getting the 1RS to Help Cover Your Real Estate Losses 137

Explosive Tax Landmine for Fix and Flippers 145

Guilty Until Proven Innocent 151

Conclusion 161

Putting it All Together 163

Appendix A Tax Freedom Day 171

Appendix B Glossary 173

Acknowledgments 191

More from Biggerpockets 193

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

PRAISE FOR THE SERIES

The Book on Tax Strategies for the Savvy Real Estate Investor

The Book on Advanced Tax Strategies: Cracking the Code for Savvy Real Estate Investors

“Amanda and Matt explain the tax benefits of real estate in a way that even the most novice investor can understand, and they give both new and seasoned investors alike the tools necessary to put these strategies to work to start saving money immediately. This book is a must for any investor’s bookshelf.”
—J Scott, Author of The Book on Flipping Houses and co-host of The BiggerPockets Business Podcast

"You can't even get your CPA to listen to your voicemail message for the cost of this book. Your savings begin just by purchasing and reading this before you meet with your CPA to ask questions on the clock!"
—Brian Burke, CEO of Praxis Capital and author of The Hands-Off Investor

“Matt and Amanda are top-notch professionals with whom I have been associated for many years. Their clientele demands answers to the most current changes in the tax code, and their new book gives all of us a big advantage in creating strategies that will save us money and help keep our wealth!”
—Bruce Norris, Investor, philanthropist, and host of the award-winning Norris Group Real Estate Radio Show

“The only certain things in life are death and taxes. Thankfully, Amanda and Matt have made the latter much less of a sure thing! This book has a down-to-earth yet informative style that makes it fun and easy to read, while also helping to save real estate investors BIG money.”
—Brandon Turner, Bestselling author of The Book on Rental Property Investing and co-host of The BiggerPockets Podcast

“If you want to learn how to embrace the tax code and make it work for you instead of against you, this book is a must read. With The Book on Advanced Tax Strategies, you don't have to fear tax time or feel hopeless about the checks you'll write to the government each year. This is a brilliant tool that will help you keep more of your hard-earned money!”
—Elizabeth Benton, Business owner, podcaster, and bestselling author

“Matt and Amanda knocked this one out of the park! [They] lay out a… clear understanding of the rules of self-directed investing, whether in an IRA or in a Solo(k). The book goes deep into the upside of tax-free and tax-deferred retirement savings as they illustrate the financial benefits. Want to invest your retirement funds outside of Wall Street? Read this book first!”
—Kaaren Hall, CEO of uDirect IRA Services, LLC

Editorial Reviews

Had I read this book earlier in my real estate investing career, I easily would have saved myself thousands in taxes and my net worth would be significantly higher!”

—Brandon Turner, Author of The Book on Rental Property Investing

From the Publisher

2017-02-15
A debut guide offers tips for those actively investing in real estate or considering the move to boost income and build wealth. In this book, Han and MacFarland detail tax-saving strategies, stressing the need for proactive tax planning before any real estate investments are made and explaining why full and accurate record-keeping and documentation remain vital to business success. The manual covers how related expenses, such as traveling to view potential properties and catering at open house events, can be broadly defined but still legally deducted as long as they are an ordinary and necessary part of doing business. The correct way to establish and use legal entities such as Limited Liability Corporations and S Corporations to protect assets is also discussed. Furthermore, the authors address how investors can avoid the dreaded IRS audit and demonstrate why striving to become as audit-proof as possible is so important: "Unlike the U.S. criminal court system, which deems a person innocent until proven guilty, the IRS has a completely different viewpoint: the taxpayer is guilty until proven innocent." Another section identifies the ways in which flipped properties are taxed differently than other real estate investments and what effect that has on individuals. The authors write in a friendly, engaging style, explaining complicated real estate tax and legal matters clearly and without condescension. Although some of the tax strategies outlined may sound familiar to investors, other information may be new. For example, the authors explain how an individual's retirement account can be designated as self-directed rather than based on the stock market and then leveraged to finance property purchases. Their main points are underscored and enlivened by case studies describing the experiences of their clients who've made good and bad decisions in their real estate investments and the consequences that resulted. It's not necessary to be a tax expert to follow the arguments in this guide, and the appended glossary of terms provides additional help. Well-written, comprehensive advice and strategies detailing the whys, the hows, and the potential pitfalls of real estate investing.

Kirkus Reviews