Anderson Business Advisors Podcast AndersonAdvisors.com

Welcome to another Tax Tuesday episode of the Anderson Business Advisors podcast. Today, attorneys Toby Mathis, Esq., and Eliot Thomas, Esq., explain tax strategies for listener-submitted questions. The conversation digs into S-Corp vs. C-Corp for property management, understanding Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT) for non-profits, qualifying for Real Estate Professional status, and cost segregation and bonus depreciation for rentals.Submit your tax question to taxtuesday@andersonadvisors. 
Highlights/Topics:
"Is it better to have an S-corporation or C-corporation as your property management company managing your land trust and property held in your disregarded LLC? Are you required to have payroll with the S-corporation?" - With the management corporation, S or C, I personally like the C-corporation better.
“Where and when does UBIT apply to real estate investing and generally to alternative investments? - You're going to run into this when you have exempt groups or we'll call them entities, nonprofits are also exempt.
Does an accountable plan have identical benefits when comparing a C-corporation versus an S-corporation for a new business?" - being a new business or not shouldn't change too much. It's just a C Corp versus S Corp.
"How do you know how much you can convert into a Roth IRA from a traditional one without getting pushed into a higher tax bracket when you don't know what your investment gains will be?" - we don't look at the taxable gains - whatever your tax bracket is, that's what’s going to determine.
“Augusta rule. I am my own real estate broker office scene out of my home. I just hosted a large client appreciation party at my house using rooms in a garden that are not my office. Can I apply an Augusta rule to it? If yes, could applying the Augusta rule increase my chances for an audit and to what percentage? - Augusta rule is 288. You can rent out your home up to 14 times a calendar year. This is entertainment, you could maybe deduct 50%, I wouldn’t use Augusta for anything entertainment.
“My question is I've never been able to take real estate professional status due to full-time employment as a W-2 employee. I took early retirement on January 2nd of 2024 of this year. I am still being paid the remainder of 2024 biweekly, but not actually working. I'm a licensed real estate broker and spend a lot and most of my time on real estate rentals, subdivision development, et cetera. With this payout biweekly for the remainder of the year, can I qualify as REP (real estate professional) status for 2024?" - The prohibition to having W2 income is if you are actually working at your W2 job. Here, we're not doing any work for that check. You're just getting paid free money for 2024. You can go out and put your time into real estate.
“Given the time of the year that we're getting into with taxes being due especially in the fall, what are the first three steps in the tax planning process, and how does one approach the process differently for clients that earn less?" – Start with having excellent bookkeeping, identify where you are today, and plan where you are going in the future.
"What is the best way to purchase an existing business for tax purposes?" - You're going to buy the assets, you want to buy the assets because now you're going to be able to get those at your fair market value that you pay for them. We call it stepped-up basis in your assets…
"If I buy a short-term rental and do a cost seg the next year, I bought it, and listed it on Airbnb, can I rent it long-term for the following year or would that interfere with the cost seg done the prior year?" –This is a common strategy, there's nothing wrong with that - you want to at least rent it once in year one as a STR.
"If I claim bonus depreciation on my rental property, do I need to return or reverse it when I sell the property? What happens with bonus depreciation when I sell a rental property, or I necessarily have it in current?” - It

In this episode, Toby Mathis, Esq. chats with Jeffrey Cottle, Esq., Senior Attorney at Anderson Business Advisors, about the world of house flipping, with a focus on how to handle the tax implications. It emphasizes the importance of avoiding "dealer" status with the IRS and explores strategies like asset protection. Toby and Jeff discuss limitations placed on frequent flippers and analyze the pros and cons of different business structures like LLCs, C-Corps, and S-Corps. It concludes by examining the most common scenarios Jeff encounters at Anderson Advisors when working with house flippers.
Highlights/Topics:
Jeff Cottle intro
Flipping all comes down to ‘intent’ with the IRS
Avoid “dealer” status, and consider asset protection when flipping
1031 exchanges, installment sales are not available to dealers
Flipping risks increase with each new property you purchase
Pros and cons to LLCs, C-Corps, S-Corps
What is the “typical” scenario Jeff sees for flippers?
Send us your questions and ideas for future show topics!
Resources:
Schedule Your FREE Strategy Session
https://andersonadvisors.com/ss/?utm_source=aba&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=how-to-structure-your-real-estate-flipping
Jeffrey Cottle LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-cottle-019a75a2/
Anderson Advisors
https://andersonadvisors.com/
Toby Mathis on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/c/tobymathisesq
 

In this episode, Toby Mathis, Esq., and Eliot Thomas, Esq., bring more of their tax knowledge to the masses, answering questions on HSA contributions, employing your children in your business, and keeping your assets in a self-directed IRA. Be sure to check out our FREE virtual events happening this month. Submit your tax question to taxtuesday@andersonadvisors.
Highlights/Topics:
"For an LLC that opted to be taxed as an escort is it better to not just. the profits and let retained earnings grow on the balance sheet and invest retained earnings in stocks or other investments in the name of the LLC? - the profits are automatically going to come down to hit your return. You're going to have to pay tax on those
"I am considering signing up with Anderson and contemplating having you amend the last three years as I don't think my CPAs or TurboTax gave me all the write-offs that I was eligible for as a real estate investor.I think I may qualify for a greater return, but also don't want to automatically trigger an audit. - the “triggering an audit” that's, I think, a really common scare tactic that's out there…amending is not going to create an audit.
"Can I continue funding an HSA account if I am no longer employed by the company that offered it but still have the account? Does it make sense to place it into a HSA investment account? - You certainly can continue with that HSA. Even if it's an employer-sponsored HSA, it is the employee's property, should they choose to leave.
"I have a K1 that will be late from the sale of an apartment complex in Georgia. I am a married filing separately tax payer. I will do an extension but still have to pay tax in April How do I know how much to pay without the K1? I Went through a similar sale last tax season and had to pay a late fee due to the late K-1. I'd like to avoid that again.- There is a safe harbor. If you've paid in at least 90 % of what will be due during your time period before April 15th,
"What are the benefits of having children as employees? Are there education expenses eligible for payment by the company? - if kids are paid underneath the standard deduction for that particular year, then there's no federal income tax on it. There are many benefits to shifting income to your children.
"If we live in our rental house for two of the prior five years to avoid full taxation on capital gain, take advantage of the $500,000 exemption for married joint-filing, can the remaining amount that we, remaining amount we will pay in taxes be offset? Can the remaining amount we will pay in taxes be offset by losses in our other rental properties? Capital if we qualify as real estate professionals during the year for filing. For example, if we purchase another property, and cost seg it, can those potential deductions be used to offset the taxes paid on the primary residence sale? - As long as they're in there for two of the last five years, they are eligible for ownership and use.
"How long do I need to have a property in service to rent to be able to deduct bonus depreciation from a cost segregation study? - you want to be reasonable, probably a reasonable amount of time, but if it was available for rent. That's it!
"My asset is in a self-directed IRA, so when you see SDR at IRA, that means self-directed. I am assuming if I sell it, the money is considered income and I'm taxed on it like any other income. Also, if I use the money from the sale of that property for the purchase of a different property, not kept in the self-directed IRA, can I avoid taxes? What is your suggestion in this type of situation? - there's a whole lot of misconception going on in this question. So no, we are not taxed on it like any other income. It's quite the opposite.
"Just started an ink taxes as C Corp What is an accountable plan? Is it something I need to join before I can get the benefit of it? Can any reimbursement be an expense with my personal name and get reimbursement like health dental vision cell p

Today Toby Mathis, Esq. speaks with Karim Hanafy, Esq., Anderson’s non-profit expert, about the top ten types of non-profits you can form to access tax benefits for your charitable activities. These range from familiar causes like humanitarian aid (both domestic and international) to education (including scholarships) and even combating social issues through activities and therapy animals. Research, veteran/elderly assistance, and various housing needs rank high, as well as animal welfare, environmental causes, and empowering communities. Finally, the importance of supporting other nonprofits, regardless of their specific cause, is also an option.
Highlights/Topics:
Karim’s background/expertise in non-profits
Top ten types of nonprofits
Humanitarian relief - domestic/international - food, clothing, shelter, medical care, housing
Education and scholarships- trade schools etc.
Activities to combat obesity, depression, and isolation - social and outdoor activities, therapeutic animals
Research - medical and financial support
Assistance for veterans and the elderly- medical, counseling, jobs, housing
Housing - this used to be number one - recovery from abuse, elderly, vets, under-resourced
Animals - sanctuaries, animal therapy programs
Miscellaneous - pollution, ministries, waste reduction, empowering the underserved, disaster relief
International giving - orphanages, food, clothing, shelter, animal sanctuaries, clean water
Supporting any of the above activities, or supporting other organizations that provide the previous support
Resources:
Email Our Team To Get Your Nonprofit Started
Schedule Your Free Strategy Session
Tax and Asset Protection Events
Anderson Advisors
Anderson Advisors Podcast
Toby Mathis YouTube
Clint Coons YouTube

Welcome to episode #214 of the Anderson Business Advisors podcast. Today, experts Toby Mathis, Esq., and Eliot Thomas, Esq., explain tax strategies for common questions concerning how to write off business travel that includes personal days (hint: business days have to be more than 50% of your trip), how and when you can qualify as a real estate professional, investing in real estate from your investment accounts, and some of the helpful tax benefits of creating and using a Health Savings Account. Submit your tax question to taxtuesday@andersonadvisors.Highlights/Topics:
"Can I deduct travel expenses to rehab rent rentals that are in other states than my primary residence?" - Yes, but you have to spend more days doing work (more than 50%) than personal days.
"If we convert our traditional IRA to a Roth IRA with the same provider, do we have to file any forms with the tax return or otherwise? If so, what forms?" - You’ll receive a 1099R - the converted amount is taxable.
"Do we have to make the REPS election every year? And how do we make the election?" – That's real estate professional status. Does one spouse qualify? Is he/she spending 750+ hours on the business?
"Last year we neglected to register as real estate professionals. We ended up owing a substantial amount in taxes. Can we register as real estate professionals this year and carry over the expenses that were disallowed for 2022 and 2023?" –in '23, if we make the status and we, the real estate professional status and we aggregated, we got everything done properly in return, it's not gonna help us. for those prior losses.
"For Augusta rule payments, what documentation is required beyond meeting minutes? Do I just write myself a check? Should Augusta rule go in the memo? Do I need to send myself an invoice? I am the owner and employee of an S-corporation?" – You always want to send an invoice. I would recommend it. You want to have that paper trail.
"Can investment income be used to fund a health savings account? The deductibles are so high. We are always paying out of pocket." - So you don't need any type of specific income to fund an HSA health savings account. Limits for 2023 are 7750 for a family, 3850 for an individual.
"I plan to buy a rental property using my 401(k). I'm 65 and set up my solo 401(k) for rollover. My question is, if I convert to a Roth 401(k) and purchase the rental, does the rental income and future equity gain become tax-free?" – Yes, it does, that's a quick answer.
"Should I have my rental income funneled into an LLC, business, or corporation to save money in taxes?" - how is it taxed? And it can be what we call disregarded, which means it's taxed. Could be a partnership, could be an S corp, could be a C corporation, and all those have different answers.
"What are the tax and legal benefits of making an owner loan to my LLC rather than capital contributions?" - just like the last question, how is that LLC taxed? We would do something different, perhaps if it was a disregarded entity or partnership versus an S -corp or a C -corp. They can all have different outcomes depending on how we do it.
"Can you write off 100% of your trip to Las Vegas all expenses? I'm a realtor licensed in both Nevada and California. Any other tax deductions?" - You're going to have to qualify it as business travel. That means more days of business than anything else…
Resources:
Tax and Asset Protection Events
https://andersonadvisors.com/real-estate-asset-protection-workshop-training/?utm_source=aba&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=write-off-travel-expenses
Anderson Advisors
https://andersonadvisors.com/
Toby Mathis YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@TobyMathis
Toby Mathis TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@tobymathisesq
Clint Coons YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@ClintCoons

In this episode, Toby Mathis, Esq. chats with fellow attorney John Anderson, Esq. of Anderson Business Advisors about the pros and cons of establishing trusts in Nevada. The discussion digs into Nevada trusts' specific functions and benefits, including the "seasoning period" and the role of trustees. Toby and John explore how a third-party trustee can offer protection, methods for withdrawing funds, and the power of appointment in Nevada trusts. Additionally, they touch upon safeguarding your home with a trust, using a trust for essential expenses, and the potential risks of insolvency and bankruptcy. The conversation highlights the likelihood of lawsuits settling against a Nevada trust while acknowledging the absence of tax advantages.
Highlights/Topics:
Trusts - to revocable or irrevocable?
Advantages to setting up trusts in Nevada and South Dakota
The “seasoning” period
Trustees and their functions in these states
Protection through a third-party trustee
Filing taxes and withdrawing money - Nevada trusts
Power of appointment
Protecting your home with a Nevada trust
Using an asset protection trust to pay for essentials
Risks of voluntary insolvency and bankruptcy
Most lawsuits will choose to settle against a Nevada trust
Tax advantages - there aren’t many
Pro-rata vs. non-pro-rata
A high-profile divorce case with a Nevada trust, and the outcome
Not subject to the Corporate Transparency Act
Setting up a Nevada trust, statute of limitations
Resources:
Email John Anderson for a consult
estateplanning@andersonadvisors.com
Anderson Advisors
https://andersonadvisors.com/
Anderson Advisors on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaL-wApuVYi2Va5dWzyTYVw
Tax and Asset Protection Events
https://andersonadvisors.com/real-estate-asset-protection-workshop-training/?utm_source=aba&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=how-to-form-a-nevada-asset-protection-trust
Toby Mathis on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/c/tobymathisesq
Anderson Advisors
https://andersonadvisors.com/