Michael Gray, CPA's Real Estate Tax Letter

July 20, 2016

© 2016 by Michael C. Gray
ISSN 1930-0387

A monthly report focusing on tax issues for the homeowner and real estate investor.

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The year is half over!

Time is sneaking by us again! How is 2016 going for you? Is there any way we can help you reach your goals? How is your tax picture shaping up this year? Call Dawn Siemer at 408-918-3162 or Michael Gray at 408-918-3161 to make a planning appointment now.

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Our schedules.

Michael Gray will be away from the office starting July 29, returning August 3. Dawn Siemer has changed her hours and will be working Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays again. She will be away from the office starting July 25, returning August 8. We won't be available for telephone calls or emails during our absences. While Dawn is away, please call Michael Gray directly at 408-918-3161.

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'Tis the season for extensions.

If you need help preparing your income tax returns for which you have filed an extension, call Dawn Siemer at 408-918-3162 on Mondays, Tuesdays or Thursdays to make an appointment.

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IRS can require reporting a disregarded entity's identification number on the owner's income tax return.

The IRS Chief Counsel has issued program manager technical assistance stating the agency has the authority to require the owner of a disregarded entity, such as a single member LLC, to report the entity's employer identification number on the owner's tax return. The Chief Counsel noted that a return would be valid even if it lacked the EIN for the disregarded entity.

(PMTA 2016-08.)

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Partial exclusion allowed for sale of residence after birth of a second child.

A married couple owned a two-bedroom condominium. One of the bedrooms was used as a bedroom for their child and as a home office for the husband and guest room. The wife became pregnant after the purchase of the condominium and, after a second child was born, the couple sold the condominium and bought another residence to accommodate the second child.

The IRS said the couple would qualify for a partial exclusion of the gain from the sale of the condominium. The birth of the second child qualified as an "unforeseen circumstance" requiring the sale of the condominiium.

(IRS Letter Ruling 201628002, April 11, 2016.)

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Does your group need a speaker?

We are seeking opportunities to speak before groups. Topics include recent tax developments, tax issues relating to real estate, how estate planning has changed recently, tax issues relating to alternative investments using retirement accounts, and marketing topics such as "How I created a public access television show broadcast on eleven Bay Area stations." To make arrangements, call Michael Gray at 408-918-3161.

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Please share your good experiences with Michael Gray, CPA.

As you know, more and more people are going to the internet to find information about service providers. We hope you will share some good words about experiences that you have had with our firm. Some of the sites where you can share your experiences include yelp.com and siliconvalley.citysearch.com.

We use Angie's List to assess whether we're doing a good job keeping valued customers like you happy. Please visitAngiesList.com/Review/4258970 in order to grade our quality of work and customer service.

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Financial Insider Weekly broadcast schedule for July and August.

Financial Insider Weekly is broadcast in San Jose and Campbell on Fridays at 9:30 p.m., Pacific Time. You can watch it on Comcast channel 15 for San Jose and Campbell. The show is broadcast as streaming video at the same time at www.creatvsj.org.

Here are the scheduled interviews for July and August:

July 22 and 29, G. Scott Haislet, attorney at law and CPA, "Sale of a principal residence"
August 5, Charles H. Packer, attorney at law, Hopkins & Carley, "Should you terminate a family trust considering recent tax law changes?"
August 12, Charles H. Packer, attorney at law, Hopkins & Carley, "Tax planning for real estate change of ownership in California"
August 19 and 26, Charles H. Packer, attorney at law, Hopkins & Carley, "Succession planning issues of family businesses"

Financial Insider Weekly is also broadcast as follows:

Back episodes available at https://www.youtube.com/user/financialinsiderweek.

Let me know any ideas that you have for topics or guests. Guests will usually have to be located in or near the Silicon Valley in California.

Hope you can watch or record the show. Please tell your friends about it!

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Questions and Answers

Michael Gray regrets he can no longer personally answer email questions. He will answer selected questions in this newsletter.

Dear readers:

Many of your questions relate to the sale of a principal residence. We have an article at our web site, "Could your residence be the ultimate tax shelter?" (www.realestateinvestingtax.com/residence.shtml) where you should be able to find the answers to most of these questions.

Many other questions relate to short sales and foreclosures. See our article on that subject at www.realestateinvestingtax.com/shortsale.shtml.

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Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+!

If you enjoy Twitter, please follow me at www.twitter.com/michaelgraycpa. I would especially appreciate retweets of our messages announcing episodes of Financial Insider Weekly.

you can also follow me on other social media sites, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+.

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If you have employee stock options, have you subscribed to Michael Gray, CPA's Option Alert at no charge or obligation?

To learn more, visit stockoptionadvisors.com/subscribe.shtml

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Check out my blog.

I have also started a blog at michaelgraycpa.com. Check it out!

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Do you know about our other newsletters?

For general tax developments, tax planning ideas, business development ideas and book reviews, subscribe to Michael Gray, CPA's Tax & Business Insight at taxtrimmers.com/subscribe2.shtml.

Have employee stock options? Subscribe to our free newsletter, Michael Gray, CPA's Option Alert! To learn more, visit stockoptionadvisors.com/subscribe.shtml.

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Michael Gray, CPA
2482 Wooding Ct.
San Jose, CA 95128
(408) 918-3162
FAX: (408) 938-0610
Hours: 8am - 5pm PDT Monday - Friday

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