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Showing posts from April, 2024

Cost Segregation Explained: How It Works and Why It Matters for Your Taxes

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What is a Cost Segregation Study ? A Cost Segregation Study is a smart tax planning tool that allows commercial real estate investors like yourself, whether you’re renting out a small house or own a large shopping center, to accelerate depreciation on certain components of your property, thereby helping you to defer your tax liability and retain more cash. This approach involves a detailed analysis to identify and reclassify property components for income tax purposes, enabling investors to optimize their tax benefits. Think of cost segregation as breaking down your property into different pieces. Some parts might get you tax savings faster than others as these can be depreciated much faster. This is great because it means you can hold on to more money now instead of waiting years for it. But cost segregation is applicable only to investment properties, excluding primary residences. This approach makes sure the strategy helps your investment properties make more money, not just save o...

Thinking About DIY Cost Segregation? Here's What You Should Consider

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Cost segregation is a valuable tax strategy that allows property owners to accelerate depreciation on certain assets, thereby reducing tax liability and enhancing cash flow. However, the process of conducting a cost segregation study can be quite costly, with professional fees often running into the tens of thousands of dollars. This raises an important question for many investors: Can you conduct a cost segregation study yourself and save some of this money? According to the IRS Cost Segregation Audit Technique guide , you can conduct the cost segregation study on your own for smaller projects but may require assistance for larger projects. This means the IRS allows you to do your own study, provided you have expertise in construction, taxation, and engineering. So, if you choose to go the DIY route, consider using specialized cost segregation study software to guide and simplify the process, helping avoid common mistakes in your cost segregation report. Pros and Cons of Conducting ...