What the New US Tax Bill Means for Real Estate Photographers
December 31st, 2017
Last week before the new tax bill was even passed, Gary in Southern California asked:
I was wondering if you’d be able to explain this new tax cut and how it’s going to affect us? Do we just get to add a 20% deduction on top of our normal expenses? Would love some clarity on this subject!
First of all, let me say this subject is way beyond my competence. I have managed to avoid the subject of taxes and accounting most of my life because my wife has a 5-year degree in accounting and I am happy to let her and our professional tax preparer handle our taxes. That said, there are a number of articles out there on this subject because Gary is not the only one asking these questions. Remember that all the information out there is preliminary because the IRS hasn’t translated it into tax code yet. The ink is barely dry on the bill!
Here are a couple of articles I recommend that go into this subject in detail:
The above articles suggest the following answer to Gary’s question:
- This bill does NOT affect your 2017 taxes. It affects your 2018 taxes.
- The pass-through deduction applies sole proprietorships and partnerships as well as corporations.
- If your taxable income is below the threshold amount ($157,500 for individuals and $315,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly), the deductible amount for each of your businesses is simply 20% of your qualified business income with respect to each business.
Depending on where you live and your particular situation, there will be other ways this new tax bill may affect your business but the pass-through deduction is the most obvious impact.
4 Responses to “What the New US Tax Bill Means for Real Estate Photographers”
Lee Miller December 31st, 2017 at 8:41 pm #
Real estate photographers who are in the top 1/10 of 1%, don’t worry ’bout no stinkin’ deductions. . . . . .
Peter D'Aprix January 1st, 2018 at 10:51 am #
Good information Larry, but it does seem to me that we are being premature here. By all means find out as much information as possible but so much still has to be worked out at the government level, tax preparers still need their seminars that we are shooting a bit in the dark as yet. And so much depends on how much money we make gross then what our net is and what our costs of doing business is and we will all be different.
So I personally am prepared to wait and let my tax preparer tell me what to do and there seems little rush at the moment.
Taylor Lovett January 4th, 2018 at 9:54 pm #
I don’t see how the tax bill is relevant to any one specific profession… The bill should help small businesses.
Jordan January 10th, 2018 at 3:44 pm #
The best way to figure out your tax responsibility is hire a pro, just like we always recommend!