The importance of profit motive – U.S. Tax Court rules renovation activities weren’t a business

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Abstract: Individuals with real estate businesses understandably expect to deduct their business-related expenses. But those deductions might not be a slam dunk. Some married taxpayers recently learned that the hard way when their business deductions landed in the U.S. Tax Court. This article reviews the court’s valuable overview of how they and the IRS determine if expenses qualify as deductible business-related expenses — specifically, the factors they consider when assessing whether an activity was engaged in for profit. Sarkin v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo. 2019-131