Tax deductible?

[Michael Aos]

We have 3 little nearby investment (rental) properties.

One of them had some negative-grade issues that needed to be addressed immediately. Then we had hurricane-force winds earlier this year that took down several trees and hundreds of feet of privacy fence. Also wanted to till some areas for lawn / garden and have done some zeriscaping with more to come. Racked up just over 100hrs this year.

Bought a BX2370. Wish I'd purchased a B2601, but that's water under the bridge. The BX has been pretty great.

Would the BX payments be deductible?

As an aside, for a while it seemed like I was doing something with one or the other of them all the time (internal or external). Especially mowing / trimming.

Since I couldn't find a cheap used golf cart, I wound up purchasing an RTV-500 to ferry the lawn mower, string trimmer, chainsaw, weed sprayer, whatever back and forth.

Any chance there's a creative deduction in there somewhere? Haven't had it as long, or used it as much. Just over 20hrs.

Nearly forgot. I also purchased a Load Trail 5x10 7K tandem axle dump trailer. I've hauled dozens of loads of fill dirt, composted manure, rocks, and trash to the transfer station.
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[nybirdman]

If;it is set-up as a business,I would think you could deduct equipment use.May vary by state;but in NY I can deduct my equiptment/fuel,ect.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

We have 3 little nearby investment (rental) properties.

One of them had some negative-grade issues that needed to be addressed immediately. Then we had hurricane-force winds earlier this year that took down several trees and hundreds of feet of privacy fence. Also wanted to till some areas for lawn / garden and have done some zeriscaping with more to come. Racked up just over 100hrs this year.

Bought a BX2370. Wish I'd purchased a B2601, but that's water under the bridge. The BX has been pretty great.

Would the BX payments be deductible?

As an aside, for a while it seemed like I was doing something with one or the other of them all the time (internal or external). Especially mowing / trimming.

Since I couldn't find a cheap used golf cart, I wound up purchasing an RTV-500 to ferry the lawn mower, string trimmer, chainsaw, weed sprayer, whatever back and forth.

Any chance there's a creative deduction in there somewhere? Haven't had it as long, or used it as much. Just over 20hrs.

Nearly forgot. I also purchased a Load Trail 5x10 7K tandem axle dump trailer. I've hauled dozens of loads of fill dirt, composted manure, rocks, and trash to the transfer station.
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Maybe... you can deduct a fair percentage, like an in home office???

 

[Old Red]

You can depreciate your equipment. If you use it half for personal use and half for your rental business you can depreciate 50% of it. Just read the rules of depreciation. Your payments are not deductible straight off the top of your income....depreciation expense and interest expense are.

 

[smstonypoint]

Section 179 expensing may apply: Qualifying | Section 179 Tax Deduction | Section179.Org.

Steve

 

[motownbrowne]

If you claim income from your properties on a form like a schedule C, then I would absolutely think that you should be deducting expenses, such as mileage to and from the properties, materials needed for repairs, and yes, your tractor payments, even if you operate as a sole proprietor, not an LLC or other corporation. BUT, I'm not an accountant, and I'd strongly suggest that you speak with yours.

 

[Kentuckyfarmer]

You can depreciate your equipment. If you use it half for personal use and half for your rental business you can depreciate 50% of it. Just read the rules of depreciation. Your payments are not deductible straight off the top of your income....depreciation expense and interest expense are.

You can't deduct payments on federal. But agree with above interest and depreciation. Don't know about your state taxes.

 

[RNeumann]

It is difficult to be a “professional” property owner/manager in the eyes of the feds- most don’t qualify. If you don’t qualify you can only write off against gains on the property. So as an example you make $100,000 a year building houses (or selling cheese burgers....whatever you do) and lose $25,000 with the 3 rentals you are taxed on $100,000.
We too own 3 rentals and have had work done to them. The write off is minimal. The main reason to keep track of all your costs is to offset gains when selling the property.

 

[Old Red]

It is difficult to be a “professional” property owner/manager in the eyes of the feds- most don’t qualify. If you don’t qualify you can only write off against gains on the property. So as an example you make $100,000 a year building houses (or selling cheese burgers....whatever you do) and lose $25,000 with the 3 rentals you are taxed on $100,000.
We too own 3 rentals and have had work done to them. The write off is minimal. The main reason to keep track of all your costs is to offset gains when selling the property.

This post and your example is hard to follow. You can depreciate you lawn mower if you mow the grass over there. You can have a depreciation expense that will decrease your taxable income. If you use the lawn mower 100% on the rental business you can depreciate it according to the schedule set forth by the IRS, if you split the use of the lawn mower between your personal home or non business property you can depreciate a portion of it.

 

[coldsteelva]

You would have to be set up as a corporation/LLC and any durable goods have to be depreciated over 10 years. If you're splitting between personal use and business, that gets a bit more muddy. A home office deduction is easily measured, but the percentage of us of a piece of machinery is different. Having the corporation PRIOR to the purchase would have been easier than trying to end run around the taxes.