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Chapter Introduction

PostedAugust 27, 2024

rental property tax deductionsBy Jason Watson, CPA
Posted Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Ahh… the good stuff. Yes, you work hard. Yes, you want to be able to get a little extra from your rental property and real estate investment business. Yes, you want this to be tax-advantaged. We get it. This chapter will discuss the 185 tax deductions you cannot take (not really), explain how to position yourself on allowable rental property tax deductions, and then get into hot topics such as automobiles, travel, home offices, repairs, Cohan rule and other fun things.

This chapter’s underpinnings come from our book titled Taxpayer’s Comprehensive Guide to LLCs and S Corps aimed at small business owners. However, we sprinkle in real estate specific things here and there. Additionally, please keep in mind that we encourage rental property owners to view their activities as a business and not just an investment. We will discuss the technical difference between investment activities and business activities in a bit.

If you are real estate broker or agent, property manager or fix and flipper, and have earned income outside of rental properties and real estate investments, this chapter will feel truncated. Please visit our companion book above for nauseating details on general small business tax deductions and tax efficiency strategies.

The rental property tax deductions chapter is long, but it might be the most sought after.

Jason Watson, CPA, is a partner and the CEO of WCG CPAs & Advisors, a boutique yet progressive tax, accounting and rental property consultation firm with over 80 team members headquartered in Colorado serving real estate investors worldwide.

Jason Watson CPA LinkedIn     Jason Watson CPA Email

I Just Got A Rental, What Do I Do? 2025 Edition

Rental BookThis KB article is an excerpt from our 420+ page book (some picture pages, but no scatch and sniff) which was updated May 25, 2025, and is available in paperback from Amazon, as an eBook for Kindle and as a PDF from ClickBank. We used to publish with iTunes and Nook, but keeping up with two different formats was brutal. You can cruise through these KB articles online, click on the fancy buttons below or visit our webpage which provides more information.

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Talk to a Real Estate CPA About Your Rental Property

Please use the form below to tell us a little about yourself, and what you have going on with your investments and wealth-building objectives. WCG CPAs & Advisors are real estate CPAs, tax strategists and rental property consultants, and we look forward to talking to you!

The tax advisors, business consultants and rental property experts at WCG CPAs & Advisors are not salespeople; we are not putting lipstick on a pig expecting you to love it. Our job remains being professionally detached, giving you information and letting you decide within our ethical guidelines and your risk profiles.

We see far too many crazy schemes and half-baked ideas from attorneys and wealth managers. In some cases, they are good ideas. In most cases, all the entities, layering and mixed ownership is only the illusion of precision. As Chris Rock says, just because you can drive your car with your feet doesn’t make it a good idea. In other words, let’s not automatically convert “you can” into “you must.”

Let’s chat so you can be smart about it.

We typically schedule a 20-minute complimentary quick chat with one of our Partners or our amazing Senior Tax Professionals to determine if we are a good fit for each other, and how an engagement with our team looks. Tax returns only? Business advisory? Tax strategy and planning? Rental property support?

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Text WCG Offices

Need to get in touch through a quick text?  We’ll respond back within a day and get going!

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Call Our Amazing Team

If you need to speak to a tax professional now, give us a call and we'll get you connected.

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Chat With a Tax Pro

Taxes can be tricky. Chat with a WCG human now and get questions answered.

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