Customer Reviews

Every Landlord's Tax Deduction Guide

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The only book on tax deductions just for landlords. This is important because the tax laws of the US are so complex that it takes a specialized book (written in plain English) to cover a specialized area like this. For instance, changes in the tax law in 1999 made it easier to take the home office deduction and harder for the IRS to successfully object. BUT the IRS doesn't go out of its way to encourage landlords to take the deduction. Indeed you won't find a single word about it in any IRS publication or form. In this book there is a chapter on just this subject, and it includes such details that as defining when travel from your home office to your rental property is or is not deductible.

This is the kind of detail that this book goes into. It is specific to landlords so eliminates all of the other material that is just in the way when you read it. It also includes access to a web site that updates this book with any changes in the law that affect the current edition of the book.

Basically this tells you all that you need to know, and it is almost guaranteed to let you find deductions you would otherwise have missed.

I have been sorely disappointed with Nolo's recent books. The books for legal issues for individuals are full of cliches, surface advice, and are generally very thin. I really get the sense Nolo is rushing items to market, with little concern for quality.

But this one is an exception, perhaps because it is a professional topic. My biggest complaint is that Nolo intentionally breaks up information to force you to buy multiple books, even though there is tremendous overlap (Every Landlord's Legal Guide, the Landlord's Law Book, First-Time Landlord, etc). So if you buy more than one book, you will definitely be getting redundant information. And, unlike other series (such as the Dummies Guides), they make no effort at all to include all pertinent information in just one book.

My other suggestion is, if your fairly new to small business &/or real estate taxes, trying this book: Loopholes of the Rich. The book is mostly a rant about taxes, and a history of legal tax evasion ... but the last chapter contains a huge list of tax deductions for investors and business owners, that almost everyone overlooks. And, there are plenty of used copies available for just pennies (plus shipping). Or, since the important part is only about 10 pages long, maybe you can just use the "Look Inside" feature and copy down anything that is relevant to your situation.

I would say that this book is a bit wordy, and most of the chapters are simply not applicable to most real estate investors. And I will add that most of these issues can be researched easily online. But for a 1-volume reference, this is pretty comprehensive.

I have noticed I can't get the complete table of contents using the "Look Inside" feature, so here it is:


1. Tax Deduction Basics for Landlords

* How Landlords Are Taxed
* How Income Tax Deductions Work
* How Property Ownership Affects Taxes
* The IRS and the Landlord

2. Landlord Tax Classifications

* The Landlord Tax Categories
* Business Owner Versus Investor
* Are You Profit Motivated?
* Real Estate Dealers

3. Deducting Your Operating Expenses

* Requirements for Deducting Operating Expenses
* Operating Expenses That Are Not Deductible

4. Repairs

* Repair Versus Improvement
* The General Plan of Improvement Rule: A Trap for the Unwary
* How to Deduct Repairs
* Tips for Maximizing Your Repair Deductions

5. Depreciation Basics

* Depreciation: The Landlord's Best Tax Break
* Understanding the Basics
* How to Depreciate Buildings
* Depreciating Land Improvements
* Depreciating Personal Property
* When You Sell Your Property
* Tax Reporting and Record Keeping for Depreciation

6. Maximizing Your Depreciation Deductions

* Determining the Value of Your Land and Buildings
* Segmented Depreciation

7. Interest

* Interest Landlords Can (and Can't) Deduct
* Mortgage Interest
* Other Interest Expenses
* Points and Prepaid Interest
* Interest on Construction Loans
* Loans With Low or No Interest
* Loans on Rental Property Used for Nonrental Purposes
* Keeping Track of Borrowed Money

8. Start-Up Expenses

* What Are Start-Up Expenses?
* Determining Your Business Start Date
* Avoiding the Start-Up Rule's Bite
* How to Deduct Start-Up Expenses
* If Your Business Doesn't Last 15 Years
* If Your Business Never Begins

9. The Home Office Deduction.

* Qualifying for the Home Office Deduction
* Calculating the Home Office Deduction
* IRS Reporting Requirements
* Audit-Proofing Your Home Office Deduction
* Deducting an Outside Office

10. Car and Local Transportation Expenses

* Deductible Local Transportation Expenses
* The Standard Mileage Rate
* The Actual Expense Method
* Other Local Transportation Expenses
* Reporting Transportation Expenses on Your Tax Return

11. Travel Expenses

* What Are Travel Expenses?
* Deductible Travel Expenses
* How Much You Can Deduct
* Maximizing Your Travel Deductions

12. Hiring Help

* Deducting Payments to Workers
* Employees Versus Independent Contractors
* Tax Rules When Hiring Independent Contractors
* Tax Rules for Employees
* Hiring Your Family
* Hiring a Resident Manager

13. Casualty and Theft Losses

* What Is a Casualty?
* Calculating a Casualty Loss Deduction
* Disaster Area Losses
* Casualty Gains
* Tax Reporting and Record Keeping for Casualty Losses

14. Additional Deductions

* Dues and Subscriptions
* Education Expenses
* Gifts
* Insurance for Your Rental Activity
* Legal and Professional Services
* Meals and Entertainment
* Taxes
* Unpaid Rent

15. Vacation Homes.

* The Vacation Home Tax Morass
* Regular Rental Property
* Tax-Free Vacation Home
* Vacation Home Used as Rental Property
* Vacation Home Used as Residence
* Calculating Personal and Rental Use
* Converting Your Home to a Rental Property

16. Deducting Rental Losses

* What Are Rental Losses?
* Overview of the Passive Loss Rules
* The $25,000 Offset
* The Real Estate Professional Exemption
* Rental Activities Not Subject to PAL Real Property Rental Rules
* Vacation Homes
* Deducting Suspended Passive Losses
* Tax Reporting for Passive Rental Losses
* Strategies for Dealing With the Passive Loss Rules
* At-Risk Rules
* How to Deduct Rental Losses

17. Record Keeping and Accounting

* Record Keeping Made Simple
* Accounting Methods
* Tax Years

18. All About Schedule E

* Who Must File Schedule E?
* Filling Out Schedule E
* Schedule E Example

19. Claiming Tax Deductions for Prior Years

* Reasons for Amending Your Tax Return
* Time Limits for Filing Amended Returns
* How to Amend Your Return
* How the IRS Processes Refund Claims

20. Help Beyond This Book

* Secondary Sources of Tax Information
* The Tax Law
* Consulting a Tax Professional

I'm a beginner landlord and I found this book easy to read and comprehend. Tax books are not the most exciting of reading material, so I'm only 1/4 of the way through it, but I have learned so much from it so far. I bought the book at the end of the year to prepare myself for taxes. I wish I bought it sooner, because there is many deductions that I could have taken. But it's a little late in the year now and the reciepts were trashed, so I loose there. Great book for first timers and I will probably need to refer to this book as I move into the next tax year.

This book should be reduced by half in size. I have found many repeats, lenthy descriptions for easy-to-understand subjects, and hard to separate important issues from trivia. To be fair, I learned what I need from the book, but spent more than necessary in time and energy to sort out weeds from goods.

I am surprised to find so many positive comments for the book, which make me suspicious to buy other books based on them.

After receiving a limited release for his book, I believe that this is an excellent book that will save you tons of money on taxes while avoiding bad lawsuits. I believe that this is a book for every apartment building owners, on-site managers, and property managers. It describes how to screen and choose the best tenant, write a lease and hire a trustworthy property manager. This is really a basic comprehensive reference for thos who are real estates. This should be a required text for every landlord. I treated this book as though, it was my 'Holy Bible!' It's really that good! Recommended!

I purchase this book simply because I really want to know how to fill out the Sch E for rental property. This book is very very informative and useful. It answers a lot of my questions such as depreciation, travel cost, etc..
It really worth the price. The author use simply english to explain everything. He's great.

This book is most useful to those who are professional tax preparers or are already comfortable completing complex tax returns. The average person who is getting started with being a landlord of a single residence will have difficulty with this book. There's a lot of ambiguity and many of the deductions discussed don't make sense for your amateur landlord. In some cases, when they do make sense, the explanations are often too generalized to easily understand.

If you understand nothing about the tax rules governing rental properties, this is book will be difficult read... but once you've gotten past the beginner concepts of depreciation and such, this is a supplement to the beginner materials. Another great use for this book is to help spot check your tax preparer to see if they've missed any common deductions or to give you an idea of how to plan for the tax consequences of major upgrades and repairs. This is also a handy quick-reference guide to get some basic guidance on tax concepts before you search the tax code.

I'd recommend the book, but it won't be your only guide on the subject.

Every Landlord's Tax Deduction Guide
(2009)
[...]

As a Certified Public Accountant and (albeit) not one who specialized in Taxes, I find this guide to be an extremely useful resource for landlords. The more you know the more you can assist your tax preparer. Knowing what you can deduct and keeping the proper records can be invaluable. While this guide is updated annually you should only have to read it thoroughly once, you can get annual updates at [...].
I highly recommend this guide for every person who has rental property or is thinking about getting into the rental property business.

Gunner January 2010

It's very well written for the everyday person. We will now know the right questions to ask our CPA to gain the maximum deductions we're legally entitled to have.

Absolutely critical in knowing how to plan for taxes. Definitely keep it on my bookshelf and will reference throughout year.

Pros:
Written in plain everyday English
Gives lots of details and advice. Has multiple in depth chapters on topics like depreciation so you can dive deep, but also does a good job breaking topics into good categories so you can skip around.
Fully prepares you to fill the schedule E form
Includes a walkthrough line by line of the form

Cons:
No worksheets to help walk through calculating deductions. The book tells you what you can deduct, you still have to do the math.
A select few small pieces of advice not in agreement with my HRBlock tax advisor (for example - HRBlock still recommends filling electronically, not via paper while the book suggested the opposite).