re: Retweet this if you gave more to charity last year than Mayor Bill de Blasio

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Curious to know how many years he has claimed this loss. Aren't you only allowed to claim this as a loss for so many years in a row before it is not considered a loss?

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You can depreciate the basis of your rentals over 27.5 years under the current reg. When you sell all the depreciation is factored into taxes on the profits.

ETA: that is equal to 3.6% of the home value per year that can be counted as a loss.

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Does that apply to pointing out any apparent philosophical inconsistencies of elected officials?

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I guess not.

I do think that the church has enmeshed itself too deeply in politics. But your point is that even believers should be able to call out political hypocrisy when they see it. Just maybe we should all be evenhanded about calling it out.

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Leftists don't like charity because charity is taking the place of government. They want to tax the masses so that the government can appear to be benevolent.

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I doubt that is really true.

I'd say Christian people are more likely to be conservative politically, and people raised in the Protestant tradition are more likely to give to a church.

The people I know on the (true) left give a lot of money and time to causes, such as environmental causes, and many of them are pretty strong supporters of the ACLU (which should put them in line with a lot of libertarians here).

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I wasn't looking at this as purely a religious/tithing issue, either. Although, I recognize that one who considered himself a Christian may be bound by different principles in what he sees as "moral" to criticize others for or not. I also don't necessarily think all criticism necessarily equates to "judgment."

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Very true.

My problem is that all churches seem to have become politicized. That is what I am really reacting to. And the Protestant leadership in the US has absolutely gone full bore political.

I understand why -- deep opposition to gay marriage, abortion, and other culture war matters. But I think if you dance with the devil, the devil changes you. So to me, preachers and politics don't mix well. It's like adding a cup of pee to a big punch bowl. It's pretty much all pee then as far as I am concerned.

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He and his wife reported $104,000 in rental income from two homes they own in Brooklyn but claimed a combined loss of more than $12,000 on the properties because of mortgage interest payments, depreciation and other expenses.

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oh really?

104k grand in revenues and he took a loss?


how many homes are we talking about?

I understand rental income has tax advantages but jeez seems pretty fortuitous.

You aren't counting everyone else's money they gave out.

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This is about the going rate for tax prep. I have relatively complicated taxes and this is about what i paid.

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You'd have to have extremely simple taxes to get a bill under $1000 from the firm I work for.

Dude claimed a loss on his home in freaking Park Slope while at the same time living in the governor's mansion to drastically increase his pension. A true man of the people.

Lol i paid $2000

You are getting a screaming deal. My situation is similar, though we have a couple more entities and more 1099s. 2500 is a good year for us.