The term “wealthy” is often used to describe people with large amounts of money. However, there are ways that those with less money can feel like wealthy individuals as well. A way to achieve this is by owning a home.
A house is an expensive piece of real estate, which is why most people who have them also pay taxes on it. When you own a home, you must file IRS Form 1098 along with your income tax return each year. This form reports information such as the property’s address, owner, mortgage company, and monthly payments.
Some experts say that paying more in taxes on your home is a good thing because it helps the government fund public services. For example, schools, hospitals, and roads depend on enough revenue to keep functioning! And since your home makes up part of these facilities, investing in homes means investing in our communities.
This article will discuss some reasons why having a house is a great way to be rich. We will talk about how buying a home is a smart investment, what types of houses make the best investments, and how renting may not be the smartest choice if you want to save money.
Income tax
When you sell your home, you are usually required to report it as such in your income taxes. You have to include how much money you received from the sale, what property category your house falls under (rental or personal), and whether you RENTED OUT THE HOUSE OR NOT.
If you rented out the house, then you also need to report any renters’ information that you must disclose. This includes their names, addresses, and if they paid rent using credit cards or checks!
Income tax laws require you to report all of this so our accountant can help you make sure everything is correct. It’s his job to ensure you’re not paying too much or too little in fees and/or penalties because of incorrect reports.
By having an expert take care of these details for you, it simplifies things. We’ve seen many people drop significant amounts of cash by doing it themselves, so we try hard to save you that hassle.
Capital gains tax
The term capital gain refers to when you sell an asset (like a house) at a higher price than what you paid for it. This is how most people are aware of capital gains – when you sell an item, you may or may not get taxed on the profit you make from it.
The amount that gets taxed depends on whether or not the new sale was your primary residence or if you rented out the home you sold before buying your current home.
If you owned two houses and sold one, you have a capital loss in some years and a capital gain in others. This is because we use past income to determine future taxes!
Since owning both homes cost the same money, there is no difference in applying these rules to calculate your personal taxes. It just so happens that one year has a lower capitol losses than the other ones due to timing.
This article will go into more detail about how real estate can help reduce your tax bill, but first let’s talk about another type of tax called capital gains tax.
Business tax
As mentioned before, one of the main reasons that real estate can help reduce your taxes is by donating or giving away the property you are selling. If you are in the business to make money, then this makes sense to do- but if you are doing it because you love real estate and want to keep practicing your craft, then don’t feel like you have to sell your home just because of taxation.
Donating or offering your house for sale will probably cost you some income, however there are many ways to mitigate the loss. You can write off the value as charitable donation which offsets any gains you may lose from not having the room for your belongings or being able to pay bills. Or you can lease the space out so that your rental income covers your mortgage and other expenses!
There are also different types of business owners who qualify for certain deductions. For example, individuals who run their own businesses often claim capital expenditures when they buy equipment or furniture used in their job. This way, they can deduct the costs completely. More information about these types of deductions can be found here.
Social security tax
The first year you qualify for social security benefits, there is an additional income tax that must be paid. This is your so-called social security (or payroll) tax.
This tax is calculated using a formula based on two numbers: 4% of your adjusted gross income and 12%. Adjusted gross income is what we discussed earlier in this article as total income. It does not include any kind rewards or retirement accounts.
The second number, 4%, is how much the government wants to soak you for each dollar you make more than $110,000 per year. We will talk about why in just a minute!
The ratio of these two numbers changes depending on whether you are filing as married, single, or head of household. Married individuals pay twice as much social security tax as people who file as single or head of household.
To give you some context, most people begin receiving social security benefits at age 62. Thus, if someone files as divorced they would typically stop working at that time, making them eligible to receive social security benefits later when they reach their official retirement age.
Medicare tax
As mentioned earlier, there is an additional 2% income tax that comes due for every single person who makes more than $200k per year (or individuals filing individually making over $250K). This tax is called the “Medicare Tax” and it is very confusing for most people because they never see it in action.
This extra tax was put into place to help fund the Medicare program we have today. Back when this tax first started being applied, almost no one had heard of the term ‘medicine’ nor did everyone understand how much of it costs to provide health care services to all Americans.
Since then, the cost of healthcare has increased substantially so this tax now applies to a lot of higher paying professionals and even some middle class families. Thankfully though, most doctors and nurses are well trained enough to identify if and when someone may be eligible for free or low cost medical treatments!
So why should you be concerned about this extra tax? Because although it seems like a large amount of money, it’s actually quite small relative to what most people make.
For example, let’s say your salary is $50,000 per year.
Medicaid tax
A growing number of states impose an additional state income tax on individuals who are not enrolled in Medicare or have no medical insurance coverage. This tax is typically referred to as a “Medicaid Tax” because it tends to disproportionately affect wealthy people, most of whom can afford health care.
The Medicaid tax was first enacted in 2012 when California passed this legislation. Since then, at least ten other states have adopted similar taxes. All of these taxes apply only to high-income individuals (those making more than $100,000 per year) who are not covered by Medicare or private healthcare coverage.
This additional tax applies even if you meet the IRS requirements for being exempt from paying federal income tax due to your low income. In fact, some versions of the Medicaid tax add another layer of taxation that is independent of both the IRS exemption and the lack of Medicare or private health benefits.
Rent control
One of the biggest ways that real estate can help you pay less in taxes is by limiting how much money you have to spend on rent. In some cases, your landlord can limit your ability to find new housing or at least reduce the price they are asking for it.
By restricting what areas you are able to live in and what kind of homes you are allowed to inhabit, your search becomes more limited. This helps keep costs down because you will be spending less on transportation, utilities, and finding a home.
Rent controls apply not only to individual houses, but also to apartment buildings and condos. Some cities even require owners to maintain their property as well!
There are many types of restrictions landlords can place on renters. It may be due to changes in employment, it could be because there is no room for them to fit into their community, or it could be so and so cannot live there anymore.
Rent stabilization
One of the biggest ways real estate helps reduce taxes is through something called rent stabilization. This is when your house or apartment is protected from being rented out at too high of a price, or else it is guaranteed to remain in your possession for a certain amount of time.
Landlords are required by law to keep their homes stable (or stabilize) on the market for a set period of time. If they try to sell it earlier than that, then they must give you a good reason why. For example, if there’s no one willing to pay their current asking price, or the return on investment just isn’t there anymore.
This way, you have more time to find the best deal on the next place you want to live. By doing this, landlords lose money, which can help incentivize them to drop their prices so people will buy them.
It also gives you time to look around for better opportunities, as well as finding a new home that costs less than yours does now.
