Tax Consequences of Property Transactions Flashcards
What are the three type of assets that property can be divided into (for tax purposes on gains/losses from sale of asset)?
- Ordinary assets
- Capital Assets
- Section 1231 Assets
What are ordinary assets?
- Produce ORDINARY income when sold for a gain, and include:
- Remember CAR ID
- Creative works in the hands of the individual or company that created it OR
- Held by a person who received such propery as a gift from the creator of the property
- Also includes patents, copyrights
- Accounts Receivable or notes receivable originating from normal operations of a business
- Inventory held mainly held for sale to customers
- Depreciable personal property and supplies used in a trade/business
- Creative works in the hands of the individual or company that created it OR
- Remember CAR ID
- Does NOT include:
- Musical compositions and copyrights (capital assets)
What are capital assets?
- Pretty much all assets EXCEPT CAR ID (Ordinary and 1231)
- Pretty much held for personal use or investment purposes
What determines taxation of gain/losses on the sale of capital assets?
- Holding period
- Type of capital asset
Capital Assets - Holding Periods
- Long-term capital gain/loss - taxed at prefrential capital gains tax
- Short-term capital gain/loss - taxed at ordinary income tax
What are section 1231 assets?
- This is related to:
- Depreciable property used in a trade or business
- Two categories of depreciable property
- Section 1250 - Real Property
- Section 1245 - Personal Property
How does Section 1231 taxation work?
- Provides property transactions with the best tax treatment possible.
- Long-term gains are taxed at long-term capital gains tax rate
- Losses are deducted as ORDINARY losses against ordinary income
- Depreciation on the asset MUST be RECAPTURED before favorable long-term capital gains rates apply.
- Section 1231 gains/losses are netted against each other each year and then any GAINS are netted against any aggregate net loss from the prevous 5 years in order to determine current year’s recognized 1231 gain/loss
Section 1245
- Personal Property used in trade or business as part of Section 1231.
- Must be used in a trade or buiness AND
- Held for more than ONE year to qualify under section 1245.
Section 1245 - Calculation
At time of sale:
Any depreciation taken on the asset is RECAPTURED as ORDINARY INCOME equal to LESSER of:
- Gain realized OR
- Depreciation taken
And then, any realized gain in EXCESS of the amount of depreciation recaptured is:
- Recognized as a capital gain tax subject to most favorable tax rates
Section 1250
- The real property that has been depreciated as part of trade/business
- Part of section 1231
Section 1250 - Calculation
Unrecaptured Section 1250 gain (not taxed at ordinary rates) on the sale of real estate will equal the LESSER of:
- Amount of single-line depreciation (not accelerated) OR
- Gain realized on sale of the property
Then, anything above the recaptured section 1250 gain will be long-term capital gains rates
Adjusted basis of property - What counts towards this and how to calculate?
Original Purchase Price
- Purchase price, including sales tax
- Shipping and installation costs
- Transaction costs/commissions
Adjustments to Basis
- Significant improvements
- Investment that exends the life of the asset
- Reinvestment of income (such as reinvested taxable dividends)
- Decreases to basis (such as allowable depreciation, insurance reimbursements after a casualty)
DOES NOT INCLUDE
- Pretax money paid used to purchase the asset
- Routine maintenance and repair of an asset
- Property tax
Determine basis of asset - Gifted Assets
- Holding period and Basis transfers to donee
- Gift tax paid by donor does affect donee’s basis
- Basis calculation
- On date of gift,
- FMV of asset >= the donor’s adjusted basis
- Donor’s basis carries over to donee’s basis
- Donor’s holding period carries over as well
- FMV of asset < donor’s adjusted basis
- Gain basis
- Donee later sells for MORE than donor’s adjusted basis
- Use donor’s adjusted basis
- Loss basis
- Donee later sells for LESS than FMV on date of gift
- Use FMV or asset on date of gift
- Equal basis
- Donee later sells asset BETWEEN donor’s adjusted basis and FMV on date of gift
- Donee’s basis is SELLING PRICE
- No gain or loss is recognized
- Gain basis
- FMV of asset >= the donor’s adjusted basis
- On date of gift,
Basis - Gift Tax
- When donor transfers a gift and pays gift tax on the transfer, gift tax attributable to the appreciation of the assets value (while owned by the donor) is added to the donor’s basis to determine donee’s basis
Donee’s basis =
Donor’s basis + [(net appreciation of gift / taxable gift) x gift tax paid]
Basis - Inherited Assets
- Heir’s basis is ALWAYS equal to FMV of asset on date of death OR estate’s alternative valuation
- Heir’s holding period is ALWAYS long-term, no matter what
Basis - Related Party Transaction
- Can generate DISALLOWED losses
- Related parties include:
- Direct ancestors (parents, grandparents, great-grandpartents, their parents, etc.)
- Direct decendants (children, grandchildren, their children, etc)
- Silbings (including half-siblings)
- Spouse
- Business interests where a taxpayer owns a 50% interest or more