Sunday, August 14, 2011

Tax form 1065 for my LLC - do I need to complete the depreciation interview?

Yes you should answer those questions because the IRS will reduce the tax basis of your ets by the amount of depreciation "allowed or allowable". That means they can write down the value of the ets you disposed of (thereby increasing the gain you have to report) regardless of whether or not you ever claimed the depreciation deduction. As a simple example, lets say you bought an et for $1000 and tax laws allowed $50 in depreciation during the time you owned the et. You sell the et for $1000 later. The IRS can say your et was worth $950 for tax purposes and tax you on $50 in "gain" when you sell it, whether or not you claimed the $50 in depreciation in the first place. I know it sucks, but its an unintended consequence of a very poorly written tax law.

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