Home » Blog for Asset Protection News » New tax cuts are “pending” and investment diversification as an asset protection strategy is more important than ever.

New tax cuts are “pending” and investment diversification as an asset protection strategy is more important than ever.

Have you considered diversifying your investments from the stock market to income-producing real estate?

We are seeing increased investment in income producing real estate such as apartments. The investment vehicle of choice for protection of business and personal assets and preferred tax treatment is the single member limited liability company (“LLC”) [1].

Single member LLCs – This entity is disregarded by the IRS for income tax purposes so all the tax benefits flow through to the member/investor on his or her 1040 personal tax return. The LLC files no tax return. Tax benefits include depreciation and interest deductions to offset the taxable rental income. Depreciation is a valuable non-cash deduction and it is based on the full purchase price excluding the land. The deduction is based on the premise that the improvements have a limited useful life so the investment is returned pro-rata over the useful life of the asset through depreciation deductions. This also lowers the tax payer’s basis in the property which increases the taxable gain on sale. That is where the magic of IRS Section 1031 comes into play.

IRS Section 1031 Like-Kind Exchanges – 1031 exchange tax deferral is available on sale if the net proceeds are reinvested in a qualifying “like kind” replacement property generally within 6 months of the sale. [2]The theory of tax deferral is that it is more of a theoretical gain if the investment continues in similar replacement property. This theory ignores the “step-up” in basis that is gained when the investor dies, and the “gain” avoids tax entirely. With the pending “tax cuts” this tax benefit may well be the first “offset” to go away.

Positive Leverage – With 75% positive leverage, a typical investment example follows:

A Typical Transaction:

A $1,000,000 purchase price, determined at a .06 capitalization rate, would look like this at the closing:

1) $250,000 cash down (this can be bifurcated into 5 LLC’s investing $50,000 each) and;

2) $750,000 in debt at a 4% interest rate, secured by the Property.

In this example, there is positive leverage on the $750,000 in debt of 2%. This is possible in the early years if interest rates stay at these historically low levels.

We are available to answer any questions you may have and we offer free consultations for anyone interested in discussing these investment diversification options. Call us at (360) 876-6425.

1. The 2003 Ashley Albright, Debtor, Case No. 01-11367 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado made it more difficult for single-member LLCs where the member is in Chapter 7 to protect the business assets of the LLC from the trustee. Protection still exists from most creditors and personal assets continue to be protected from creditors of the LLC.

2. Property held for investment or for use in a trade or business qualify and the “like kind” requirements are very broad in terms of the kinds of real estate that qualifies. For example, an easement can be sold and reinvested in a fee interest.

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