The Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) is a 3.8% surtax on investment income — including rental income and capital gains from real estate — for high-income taxpayers. It applies to the lesser of your net investment income or the amount by which your MAGI exceeds $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married). For Sahuarita real estate investors, NIIT can add $38,000 on a $1M capital gain. The primary strategies to avoid NIIT: qualify for REPS (rental income becomes non-passive, exempt from NIIT) or use the STR loophole (same result). KDA’s team will model your NIIT exposure and identify avoidance strategies.

The Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction allows eligible taxpayers to deduct up to 20% of qualified business income from pass-through entities. For rental real estate, the QBI deduction is available if your rental activity rises to the level of a ‘trade or business’ — either through the IRS safe harbor (250+ hours of rental services per year, with documentation) or by meeting the general facts-and-circumstances test. For a Sahuarita investor with $200,000 in net rental income, the QBI deduction could reduce taxable income by $40,000, saving $14,800 in federal taxes at the 37% rate. KDA’s team will determine if your rental activities qualify and document the safe harbor.

The at-risk rules are a threshold test that must be passed before the passive activity rules even apply. For Sahuarita real estate investors, the good news is that qualified nonrecourse financing — the standard mortgage from a bank or commercial lender — counts as at-risk. This means your deductible losses include not just your equity but also your mortgage balance. The at-risk rules become relevant when you use seller financing, related-party loans, or other non-qualified financing. KDA’s team will analyze your financing structure and confirm your at-risk amount.

Yes, but with important conditions. A short-term rental qualifies for a 1031 exchange if it has been held for investment or business purposes — not primarily for personal use. The IRS requires that you have held the property for at least 24 months before the exchange, with rental activity in each of the two 12-month periods, and that personal use does not exceed the greater of 14 days or 10% of the days rented. KDA’s Sahuarita team will review your STR’s rental history and personal use records to confirm 1031 eligibility before you proceed.

Real Estate Professional Status (REPS) is an IRS designation under IRC Section 469(c)(7) that allows qualifying investors to treat rental losses as non-passive — meaning they can offset any type of income, including W-2 wages and business income. To qualify, you must: (1) spend more than 750 hours per year in real property trades or businesses; AND (2) spend more than 50% of your total working time in real property activities. REPS is most powerful for investors with large rental portfolios or those who have done cost segregation studies generating large paper losses. KDA’s Sahuarita team will assess your eligibility and help you document your hours.

S-Corps are generally NOT recommended for holding rental properties — they create significant tax problems, including the inability to do 1031 exchanges (S-Corp shareholders can’t do 1031 exchanges directly), loss of the stepped-up basis at death, and potential issues with passive activity rules. S-Corps are appropriate for active real estate businesses — property management companies, real estate agents, fix-and-flip operations — where self-employment tax savings are significant. KDA’s Sahuarita team will advise on the correct entity structure for each component of your real estate business.

Paying your children for legitimate work in your real estate business is a legal income-shifting strategy that can save significant taxes. If your child is under 18 and you operate as a sole proprietorship or single-member LLC (not a corporation), their wages are exempt from FICA tax. Their wages are deductible to you at your marginal rate and taxed to them at their lower rate (often 0–10%). For a Sahuarita investor in the 37% bracket paying a child $14,600 (the 2026 standard deduction), the tax savings are approximately $5,400. The work must be legitimate and the pay must be reasonable. KDA’s team will structure this strategy correctly.

The repair vs. improvement question is where many Sahuarita landlords leave significant money on the table. By properly applying the IRS safe harbors, you can expense items that would otherwise be capitalized and depreciated over decades. The De Minimis Safe Harbor ($2,500 per item) alone can convert thousands of dollars of capitalized improvements into current-year deductions. KDA’s Sahuarita real estate CPA team reviews all your property expenditures annually and applies the optimal treatment to maximize current-year deductions.

Real estate tax law is a specialty within a specialty. A real estate CPA understands IRC Section 469 passive activity rules, Section 1250 depreciation recapture, Section 1031 like-kind exchanges, and the nuances of Real Estate Professional Status (REPS) — topics most general CPAs rarely encounter. KDA’s Sahuarita team handles these exclusively, which means your real estate portfolio gets the depth of expertise it deserves.

For Sahuarita investors with highly appreciated land, a ground lease is a powerful alternative to selling. Instead of triggering capital gains on the land sale, you lease the land for 50–100 years, receiving annual rent payments taxed as ordinary income. The land remains in your estate and passes to heirs with a stepped-up basis. The tenant builds and depreciates improvements on your land. KDA’s Sahuarita real estate CPA team will model the after-tax comparison between selling the land outright and entering a ground lease arrangement.