Taxes & Accounting
Deductions, basis, Schedule E, and staying audit-ready.
Landlord Mileage Log for Taxes
The IRS requires a contemporaneous log of business miles — date, purpose, start/end mileage. Miss the log and the deduction is disallowed on audit.
Homestead Exemption vs Property Tax Exemption
Homestead exemption and generic property tax exemptions are different tools — one protects against creditors and reduces taxes, the other only reduces taxes.
Home Office Deduction for Landlord Bookkeeping
If you manage your rentals from a dedicated home office, you may deduct a portion of your home expenses — but only if the space passes the IRS's "regular and exclusive" test.
Quarterly Estimated Tax Payments for Rental Income
If your rental produces taxable profit and you underpay federal tax by more than $1,000, the IRS charges an underpayment penalty — quarterly estimated payments avoid it.
Depreciation Recapture — What Happens When You Sell
Every dollar of depreciation you claimed (or could have claimed) on a rental gets recaptured at sale — taxed at up to 25% regardless of whether the rest of your gain gets the lower capital gains rate.
Cost Segregation for Landlords, Explained
Cost segregation lets you accelerate depreciation on a rental by breaking out shorter-life components — often generating five-figure paper deductions in year one. Not for every landlord.
1031 Exchanges — A Landlord's Introduction
A 1031 exchange lets you defer capital gains tax when selling one rental to buy another — but the 45-day and 180-day deadlines are strict, and one mistake can invalidate the whole exchange.
How to Track Rental Property Expenses for Taxes
A shoebox of receipts is not a system. The routine that actually works for tracking rental expenses is boring, weekly, and saves hours at tax time.
How Much of My Home Sale Is Tax-Free After Age 55?
The "age 55" home-sale tax break ended in 1997. Here's the exclusion that actually applies today — and how much of your gain is really tax-free.
Stepped-Up Basis Explained With a Real Example
Stepped-up basis sounds abstract until you see it with real numbers. Parent bought for $50K, worth $400K at death, sold for $410K — taxable gain is $10K, not $360K.
Section 179 vs Bonus Depreciation for Rentals
Section 179 and bonus depreciation aren't interchangeable. Here's how each applies (or doesn't) to a rental — and which to choose for equipment.
Section 121 Exclusion Married Filing Jointly, Explained
Married couples can exclude up to $500,000 on a home sale — but the ownership and use tests aren't identical for both spouses. Here's the nuance.
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