Exam 14: Tax Consequences of Home Ownership

Don owns a condominium near Orlando, California. This year, he incurs the following expenses in connection with his condo: During the year, Don rented the condo for 70 days and he received $17,400 of rental receipts. He did not use the condo at all for personal purposes during the year. Don is considered to be an active participant in the property. Don's AGI from all sources other than the rental property is $140,000. Don does not have passive income from any other sources. What is Don's AGI?

A taxpayer who purchases real property during the year is allowed to deduct the property taxes on that property for the entire year in which the property was purchased.

Mercury is self-employed and she uses a room in her home as her principal place of business. She meets clients there and doesn't use the room for any other purpose. The size of her home office is 400 square feet. The size of her entire home is 2,400 square feet. During the year, Mercury received $6,300 of gross income from her business activities and she reported $2,500 of business expenses unrelated to her home office. For her entire home in the current year, she reported $3,500 of mortgage interest, $1,000 of property taxes, $600 of insurance, $500 of utilities and other operating expenses, and $3,200 of depreciation expense. What amount of home office expenses is Mercury allowed to deduct in the current year using the actual expense method? Indicate the amount and type of expenses she must carry over to the next year, if any. What amount of home office expenses is Mercury allowed to deduct in the current year using the simplified method?

Taxpayers are allowed to deduct real property taxes at the time they pay estimated real property taxes to an escrow account established by the lender for the taxpayer's property taxes.

In certain circumstances, a taxpayer could rent her personal residence at a profit and not pay any tax on the income.

Braxton owns a second home that he rents to others. During the year, he used the second home for 50 days for personal use and for 100 days for rental use. After allocating the home-related expenses between personal use and rental use, which of the following statements regarding the sequence of deductibility of the expenses allocated to the rental use is correct (assume taxpayer has no expenses to obtain tenants)?

Michael (single) purchased his home on July 1, 2008. He lived in the home as his principal residence until July 1, 2016 when he moved out of the home and rented it out until July 1, 2017 when he moved back into the home. On July 1, 2018 he sold the home and realized a $300,000 gain. What amount of the gain is Michael allowed to exclude from his 2018 gross income?

Ethan (single) purchased his home on July 1, 2008. He lived in the home as his principal residence until July 1, 2015 when he moved out of the home and rented it out until July 1, 2017 when he moved back into the home. On July 1, 2018 he sold the home and realized a $210,000 gain. What amount of the gain is Ethan allowed to exclude from his 2018 gross income?

Which of the following statements regarding the home mortgage interest expense deduction is correct?

For tax purposes a dwelling unit is a residence if the taxpayer's number of personal use days of the unit is more than ten days.

Amelia is looking to refinance her home loan of $200,000. She has the option of (1) paying no discount points on the loan and paying interest at 7 percent or (2) paying two discount points on the loan and paying interest of 6 percent on the loan. Both options require Amelia to make interest-only payments for the first five years of the loan and pay back the loan over the 25 years after that (it is a 30-year loan). Amelia itemizes deductions irrespective of any interest expense she may pay. Amelia's marginal ordinary income tax rate is 32 percent. What is Amelia's break-even point in years (for simplicity, ignore time value of money concerns)?

Taxpayers meeting certain requirements may be allowed to exclude at least a portion of gain realized on the sale of a principal residence.

Rayleen owns a condominium near Orlando, Florida. This year, she incurs the following expenses in connection with her condo: During the year, Rayleen rented the condo for 130 days and she received $25,000 of rental receipts. She did not use the condo at all for personal purposes during the year. Rayleen is considered to be an active participant in the property. Rayleen's AGI from all sources other than the rental property is $130,000. Rayleen does not have passive income from any other sources. What is Rayleen's AGI?

The ownership test for excluding gain on the sale of a principal residence requires the taxpayer to have owned the property for three or more years during the five year period ending on the date of sale.

A married couple filing a joint tax return is eligible to exclude up to $500,000 of gain realized on the sale of a personal residence if both spouses meet the ownership test and at least one spouse meets the use test.

A taxpayer who is financing his personal residence and who pays points on the loan in the form of prepaid interest generally must deduct the points over the life of the loan no matter whether the loan is an original loan or a refinance of an existing loan.

A tax loss from a rental home is a passive activity loss.

Kristen rented out her home for 10 days during the year for $5,000. She used the home for personal purposes for the other 355 days. She allocated the following home expenses to the rental use of the home: Kristen's AGI is $120,000 before considering the effect of the rental activity. What is Kristen's AGI after considering the tax effect of the rental use of her home?

Jamison is self-employed and he works out of an office in his home. After allocating the home-related expenses between the business office and the rest of the home, which of the following statements regarding the sequence of deductibility of the expenses allocated to the home office business use is correct (Jamison does not use the simplified method for determining the home office expense deduction)?

Mercury is self-employed and she uses a room in her home as her principal place of business. She meets clients there and doesn't use the room for any other purpose. The size of her home office is 400 square feet. The size of her entire home is 2,400 square feet. During the year, Mercury received $6,300 of gross income from her business activities and she reported $2,500 of business expenses unrelated to her home office. For her entire home in the current year, she reported $3,500 of mortgage interest, $1,000 of property taxes, $600 of insurance, $500 of utilities and other operating expenses, and $3,200 of depreciation expense. What amount of home office expenses is Mercury allowed to deduct in the current year using the actual expense method? Indicate the amount and type of expenses she must carry over to the next year, if any. What amount of home office expenses is Mercury allowed to deduct in the current year using the simplified method?