Tax Deductions (Business Tax Deduction Tips)

Real estate depreciation offers substantial opportunity for increasing tax deductions. Most depreciation schedules are established by simply separating land and long-life improvements. This simple approach is lawful but sharply understates lawful depreciation. About 20-40% of improvements for most properties are short-life items. Short life items can be depreciated over 5, 7, or 15 years. There are about 130 short-life items that have been determined by legislation, tax court decisions and IRS rulings.

Real estate depreciation can typically be increased by 50-100% for the first 5-7 years of ownership by obtaining a cost segregation study. A cost segregation study precisely values up to 130 components of real estate that can be valued as short-life property.

By obtaining a cost segregation study, it is possible to obtain a windfall of tax deductions by “catching-up” previously under-reported depreciation. This one-time “catch-up” can occur in the first tax return filed after the cost segregation study is performed without filing any amended tax returns.

Reviewing fixed asset listings (of business personal property) can generate a meaningful amount of tax deductions. They often include items that should have been expensed, which have been sold or thrown away or which have an excessive depreciation life. Items that should have been expensed include operating expenses (sometimes included by error) and maintenance or repairs (which was necessary but did not increase the life of the assets or component.) Section 179 allows business to use up to $108,000 of 2006 capital expenditures as tax deductions. Confirm you are not capitalizing assets that could be claimed as a tax deduction.

Casualty losses also offer opportunity for tax deductions. For a casualty loss, you can deduct: 1) the market value immediately before the casualty less 2) the market value immediately after the casualty less the amount covered by insurance. The portion that is not intuitive is: the market value after the casualty is much less than the value before plus the cost to renovate. Other factors which can and should be considered for tax deductions are: lost rent/usage, stigma (in some cases), construction management, construction risks, and entrepreneurial effort.

Bad debts are a subjective matter. Judgment is required to accurately estimate the amount that should be claimed as a tax deduction. If bad debts have not been examined carefully for several years, they may offer a meaningful tax deduction opportunity. (This applies to companies who utilize accrual accounting. Companies who use cash accounting can’t claim a tax deduction for bad debt since they never recognized the revenue.)

Do well by doing good. You reduce taxes in several ways when making charitable contributions. For example, you purchased land 10 years ago for $200,000, and it is now worth $1,000,000. However, you now realize you will never use the land for the intended purpose. You can donate the land to a qualified charitable organization and take a tax deduction for $1,000,000. However, you do not have to pay capital gains taxes on the appreciation.

Tax deductions sometimes seem arcane and complicated. However, a knowledgeable team of advisors from several fields can reduce your federal income taxes. The complexity of the tax code makes it difficult for any one personal to be knowledgeable in all areas.

Cost segregation produces tax deductions and reduces federal income taxes across the country and in every size market. Below are just a few examples of cities where cost segregation generates meaningful tax deductions.

City:

  • New York, NY
  • Houston, TX
  • Hartford, CT
  • Las Vegas, NV
  • Memphis, TN
  • Philadelphia, PA
  • Orlando, FL
  • Phoenix, AZ
  • Atlanta, GA
  • Bridgeport, CT
  • Worcester, MA
  • Akron, OH
  • Harrisburg, PA
  • Salt Lake City, UT
  • St. Louis, MO
  • Portland, OR
  • Scranton, PA
  • Greenville, SC
  • Bakersfield, CA
  • Madison, WI
  • Chicago, IL
  • Fresno, CA
  • Riverside, CA
  • Albany, NY
  • Indianapolis, IN
  • Birmingham, AL
  • Ft. Lauderdale, FL
  • Baton Rouge, LA
  • Augusta, GA
  • Honolulu, HI

Cost segregation produces tax deductions for virtually all property types, including the following:

Property Type:

  • Medical facility
  • Shopping mall
  • Restaurant
  • Country club
  • Fast food restaurant
  • Power center
  • Hotel
  • Car wash facility
  • Convenience store
  • Health spa

Almost every industry, including the following, can generate cost-efficient tax deductions by using cost segregation.

Industry:

  • Golf courses and country clubs
  • Transportation equipment manufacturing
  • Electrical component manufacturing
  • Real estate lesser
  • Apparel manufacturing
  • Wood product manufacturing
  • Plastic and rubber products manufacturing
  • Furniture stores
  • Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing
  • Building supply dealers

Tax reduction services include federal income taxes, state income taxes and property taxes. We do not prepare income tax returns. Instead, our advisors review your circumstances and suggest cost effective options to lawfully reduce your income tax liability. 5. O’Connor & Associates is a national provider of commercial real estate consulting services including cost segregation studies, tax reduction, feasibility studies, tax return review, apartment inspections . O’connor associates services includes business valuation tax deduction, due diligence, income tax, tax reduction, property tax, feasibility studies, real estate consulting, market research, Denton Central Appraisal District, Tips and Tricks for Appealing Your Property Taxes in Collin, Collin county appraisal, Federal tax reduction

Strategies For Financing Commercial Real Estate Deals

Typically, you will need to secure a loan for financing commercial real estate deals due to the size of the deal and type of property. While this probably makes sense, what you may not consider is where to look for this financing. Most if not all investors would probably consider going to large banks because of their overall size and assets. But read on to see why this might not be your best option and where you should probably be looking instead.

Obtaining Bank Loans:

It is preferable to deal with small, rather than large, banks. Big banks have more money, but not necessarily for you. Also, it’s easier to get lost in a big bank, because those employees may get promoted to a different location or a different department suddenly, your contact may no longer be there when you need them most, like in the middle of a deal.

A small bank that has their charter as a community bank is a better bet. A community bank is formed under what is called the Community Banking Act (CBA). It usually furnishes a certificate of need, just like a hospital would do to get into the community. Their certificate indicates the particular niche of the market on which they are focused. Also, one of the great benefits of a small bank is the loan approval process. They usually don’t have to wait for a committee to meet to discuss your loan. They see each other every day and make decisions quickly, since there are only two or three persons on the loan committee.

And how about this for a twist you may not have considered before. When you find a local bank with whom you enjoy a thriving relationship, consider trying to make them your tenants. Imagine having the community bank that you use for most of your accounts being downstairs in the lobby of your building. You could go down when your representative is not busy, or even visit with one of the officers to see what they think about a particular deal you’re considering. Certainly, this would give you an edge over your competition if there is such a thing when dealing with banks. But surely it couldn’t hurt to have such a relationship.

Here is another source for financing commercial real estate deals you may not have considered before.

Finance Company Loans:

Finance companies are capable of doing things that conventional banks can not do due to government regulations or the internal workings of the institution itself. The first thing a person thinks of when this type of company is mentioned, is usually Household Finance or Family Finance. And while these are certainly finance companies, they aren’t the ones you need to be contacting. The types of finance companies you want to contact are the ones with vast real estate financial dealings. Below are three of the larger companies that do this type of business, but you could certainly find others with all of the resources available to us today to locate information.

Some Finance Company Suggestions:

• GE Capital

• Westinghouse

• Ford Credit

So in summary, I hope this provides you with some valuable information perhaps you had not considered prior. By opening your eyes to some additional resources for financing commercial real estate deals, it may be an area you will want to consider for your investing portfolio moving forward.

Cheap Discount Travel Tips

Here are some cheap discount travel tips for you to save money and still have fun on your next vacation!In order to get cheap discount airfare or airline tickets to your desired destination, you will not only want to look for the best deals. You will also want to look for other airports where you can fly from and to, as some airports will offer very cheap airline tickets depending on the destination. Cheap discount airfare is one of the main expenses on your vacation that you need to save on.Cheap Discount Travel tip #2 – Food can be a big expense also when on vacation. One thing to do is buy snacks and certain goods from the grocery store, so as to cut back on eating every single meal at a restaurant.Cheap Discount Travel Tip #3 – Depending on how long you will be staying on vacation, you may want to look into renting an apartment, loft, condo, etc. at a monthly rate as opposed to staying at hotels for weeks. This alone will save you a lot of money. However, if you will be staying in a hotel, look for coupon books online and in gas stations, etc. as these will often save you a nice amount of money on your hotel room bill.These are just a few cheap discount travel tips but make sure you do your homework online and offline because nowadays companies are giving incredible deals just to stimulate more business. In this pressing economy, we all need a good, relaxing vacation but we don’t have to spend a fortune for it!