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Level 4
December 7, 2019
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1099-Misc rental income for easement. Show as rental income or reduce basis?

  • December 7, 2019
  • 2 replies
  • 21 views

My client received a 1099-Misc rental income for an easement for her driveway. Should I show as rental income or just reduce basis in the property?

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Best answer by TaxGuyBill

If it truly is a permanent easement, it would reduce Basis.  To avoid an IRS notice, you may want to report it as rental income then 'back it out' by an equal negative amount, resulting in a net of $0 rental income.

However, there seem to be various situations that are similar that would be classified as rent, so you may need to do further investigation for what the payment actually was for.

https://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2014/mar/kebodeaux-mar2014.html


2 replies

December 7, 2019

If it truly is a permanent easement, it would reduce Basis.  To avoid an IRS notice, you may want to report it as rental income then 'back it out' by an equal negative amount, resulting in a net of $0 rental income.

However, there seem to be various situations that are similar that would be classified as rent, so you may need to do further investigation for what the payment actually was for.

https://www.thetaxadviser.com/issues/2014/mar/kebodeaux-mar2014.html


ironmomAuthor
Level 4
December 7, 2019
Thank you for taking the time to answer this - I appreciate it.