It’s said the only things which are certain are death and taxes.

We think this could be modified to DEBT and taxes….especially when you consider the relationship between the two.  BUT…we’ll put our tin-foil hats in our lead cased fire-proof safe and focus on the tax…er, task…at hand.

We were out in the Phoenix area to visit Robert Kiyosaki and decided to pay a quick visit to a nearby friend and tax guru.  We’d heard there was a new regulation all real estate investors need to know about…

Talking taxes in the top of office to Tom’s tower…

• Your regular host, Robert Helms
• His irregular co-host, Russell Gray
• CPA, best-selling author and Rich Dad Advisor, Tom Wheelwright

Let’s face it…taxes are NOT the most titillating topic.  After all, we’d all much rather focus on MAKING money, than spending dozens of hours and thousands of dollars tallying up how big a slice to send to the tax man.

And of course, just when you think you’ve got everything dialed, the tax man changes the rules of the game and hopes you’re not paying attention.  It’s a constant and unproductive game of cat and mouse.

SO…

If you decide to play, you’ll need to find a way to keep up on the changes.  And then organize your activities to utilize EVERY deduction you’re entitled to.  That’s why you want a great tax advisor on your team.

Robert Kiyosaki makes a lot of money.  The guy he depends on to minimize the tax bite is Tom Wheelwright.

Tom’s a bit of a nut job.  He actually LIKES taxes.  Weird.  But there’s no accounting for taste.

But thankfully, guy’s like Tom are out there.  And he pays attention to all the things that affect real estate investors.  So when he called and told us about some new tax regulations, we wanted to learn more.

Of course, we brought along our microphones and captured the conversation…because that’s what we do.

Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing

When it comes to taxes, it’s so easy to focus our efforts on paying LESS.  Sounds good, right?

Of course, the easiest way to pay less tax is to make less money…so be careful what you wish for.

Tom says your focus should be on MAKING MORE MONEY…and that’s also true when selecting an advisor.  That is, your advisors are investments…just like your real estate…and you should select them based on their potential to MAKE you money.

It’s a subtle, but important difference.  Otherwise, the temptation is to think of them as an expense…hire the cheapest, and get costly results.

The goal is to INCREASE the amount of money you pay for advisors, taxes, interest and insurance…and have those investments decrease as a percentage of your income.

To Change Your Tax You Must Change Your Facts

This is no different than the person who buys a horrible property in a terrible area and rents to the tenant from hell…then shows up at some poor property manager’s doorstep with a problem they need fixed.

In other words, if you want the property’s performance to improve, the conditions and circumstances need to change.  A property manager can only do so much with a bad situation.

The same is true for your taxes.

To get a beneficial tax result, you need to create better factual circumstances.  But it’s much harder to rewrite history, so it’s wise to understand basic taxation principles in ADVANCE, and then conduct your affairs in such a way that you create the most favorable tax result as you go along.

Obviously, this means getting an education and working closely ALONG THE WAY with your tax advisor.

Duh.  But knowing you need to do it and actually doing it are two different things.  So DO IT.

This Promises to Be a Crazy Tax Year

Tom tells us there are a number of items which are making tax filing a little more…taxing…this year.

The biggie is the new repair regulations.  Without getting lost in the weeds, the short version is that the IRS has issued new regulations designed to clarify a specific area of tax law which affects ALL real estate investors and most small business owners.

It has to do with how certain expenses are classified and whether they are treated as capital or ordinary expense.

Yeah, we don’t get it either.  That’s why you need a guy like Tom.

The point is that if it affects you…and if you own investment real estate, it probably does…then you’ll have to file one (or more!) of Form 3115 Change of Accounting Method.  So be sure to ask your tax advisor before you file for 2014.

The Affordable Care Act is making things more complicated for individuals and small businesses this year also.  But that’s been all over the news, so you’re probably aware of it.  If not, your tax advisor will help you.

A couple of other items Tom says to keep an eye on are President Obama’s proposal to charge capital gains tax at death (yes, it’s true…death and taxes together again);  and a proposal to change the “carried interest rule”, which would effectively cause real estate developers to pay ordinary income tax on certain items which are currently classified as long term capital gains.  Ugh.

So listen in to CPA Tom Wheelwright and find out what’s happening and how it affects you!

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