Memorial Day - National Moment of Remembrance - 05/23/08 05:18 PM
Before I leave my office for the day, I want to make you aware, if you are not already, of the National Moment of Remembrance scheduled for Monday, May 26 at 3:00 PM.
The following information is from www.remember.gov:
Memorial Day Event
The National Moment of Remembrance, established by Congress, asks Americans wherever they are at 3 p.m., local time, on Memorial Day to pause in an act of national unity (duration: one minute).The time 3 p.m. was chosen because it is the time when most Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday. The Moment does not replace traditional … (4 comments)

Merely the Form of the Investment Changes… - 05/19/08 03:33 PM
One of my favorite explanations for why the Internal Revenue Service allows taxpayers to sell a property and defer the capital gain tax on the sale of that property through the use of a Section 1031 like-kind exchange contains the words in the subject of this article.
The explanation goes like this: the IRS allows the taxpayer to defer the payment of capital gain taxes on the sale of a property in an exchange because the investment itself does not change, merely the form of the investment changes. When you think about that, it is really quite incredible that this great … (0 comments)

Are Your Income Properties a Business, an Investment, or Both? - 05/16/08 04:10 PM
Are your income properties a business, an investment, or both? I suspect most property owners would say they are both. That’s how I feel about mine. They certainly qualify as a business, but the primary reason I bought them was as an investment for the future.
Why does this matter? Because unless you own income property strictly as a business, you should be concerned with maximizing the investment quotient of your properties. How can this be done? There are several answers to that question, but one in particular is of interest to me in this article.
Off the top of my … (8 comments)

Section 1031 Exchanges - Tax-Deferred or Tax-Free? - 05/02/08 12:14 PM
Did you know that after you use a Section 1031 exchange to acquire new property, you will face the same tax-related issues when you decide to sell that property? Is there any way around paying capital gain taxes when you sell your property? With the issuance of Rev. Proc. 2008-16 and some advance planning, there are now two answers to that question instead of one. The one answer we always used to have was, "Yes, there is a way, but you have to die to accomplish it." (When a property owner passes away, property owned passes to heirs at a stepped-up … (2 comments)