Customer Reviews

J.K. Lasser's Homeowner's Tax Breaks 2005: Your Complete Guide to Finding Hidden Gold in Your Home

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having recently sold a vacation house on Martha's Vineyard, it was fortutious to find a copy of Gerald Robinson's new book "Homeowner's Tax Breaks" at my local Borders.

Well writen, clearly writen and, best of all, superbly organized, Robinson's book covers all the bases of the complex game of home ownership. Were that most books of this type provided as much useful advise for passage through the dense U.S. tax codes that apply to buying and selling of one's home.

As a CPA and former teacher of accounting at the graduate school level, I can tell you that if you own or are selling real estate, Gerald Robinson's new book is almost as good as winning the lottery. In fact, the odds of realizing a big pay-off from this book are much better than the odds of hitting the lottery.

While books on taxation can be among the most boring ever written, Mr. Robinson avoids that trap. He writes in plain english, explaining complex strategies at a level almost everyone can understand.

For example, if you are selling your primary residence that you've owned for many years, or you've moved to more expensive homes a number of times during your working career, this is as good as discovering an unexpected bonanza in your bank account. The three strategies for avoiding capital gains tax when yous sell a residence and realize a gain of more than $500,000 (it is far more common than you think, and comes as a shock to many sellers) are unknown to most people, including some tax accountants. This one chapter is worth the cost of the book many times over.

The book is clearly written, is well organized, and I highly recommend it. The reader will feel much more confident the next time he/she is a party to a real estate transaction, including the renting of vacation property.