I bought a house for USD 15.000. Can I deduct something and

Johann.Spekulazius · Joined: 02 Nov 2007 Posts: 5

Hi folks,

I bought a house in Missouri for USD 15.000. I bought it mainly to
make business from that location but I also live in the joint.

You guessed it: for USD 15.000, you don't get a palace. I had to
invest some more USD 8000,-- to make it livable and being able to work
in it.

How can I deduct?

Thanks in advance. (I am pretty clueless about houses and taxes as I
never owned one.)

Archived from group: us>taxes

Jim Kingdon · Joined: 25 Aug 2007 Posts: 56

> You guessed it: for USD 15.000, you don't get a palace. I had to
> invest some more USD 8000,-- to make it livable and being able to work
> in it.

If the $8000 is considered an improvement rather than a repair, you
add it to your basis. This gets you no tax benefit now, but it does
help you out when you sell the house. So keep records (receipts and
such) for that $8000 as long as you own the house.

Your best place to start is publication 530, Tax Information for
First-time Homeowners.

Jay Scherrer · Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 3

If you are using it for business (rental, business office) yes you can.
Even if you live in it yourself. You'll file a form 8829 from within
your schedule C, which calculates the percentage of business use against
personal use. And make sure to calculate all of your (repairs,
utilities, mortgage interest) as either direct: business specific or
indirect: business and personal expenses. Good Job!

Jay Scherrer
Scherrer Company
Seattle, Washington

Johann.Spekulazius@gmail.com wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> I bought a house in Missouri for USD 15.000. I bought it mainly to
> make business from that location but I also live in the joint.
>
> You guessed it: for USD 15.000, you don't get a palace. I had to
> invest some more USD 8000,-- to make it livable and being able to work
> in it.
>
> How can I deduct?
>
> Thanks in advance. (I am pretty clueless about houses and taxes as I
> never owned one.)
>