{
“@context”: “https://schema.org”,
“@type”: “FAQPage”,
“mainEntity”: [
{
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “How do I pay my children through my real estate business to shift income?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Income shifting to children through your real estate business is a legitimate tax strategy when done correctly. Your child must perform real, documented work — property management tasks, administrative work, photography, social media management for your rentals. Pay must be reasonable for the work performed. For children under 18 in a sole proprietorship or disregarded LLC, wages are exempt from FICA tax — saving you 15.3% on top of the income tax rate differential. KDA’s South Pasadena team will document the arrangement properly to withstand IRS scrutiny.”
}
}, {
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “How do I handle security deposits for tax purposes?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “The tax treatment of security deposits for South Pasadena rental property owners is straightforward: deposits held for future return are not income. They’re a liability on your books. When a tenant moves out and you apply the deposit to unpaid rent, that amount becomes rental income. When you apply it to damages, it offsets your repair expense. If you return the full deposit, no tax consequence. KDA’s team will set up proper accounting for your security deposits and ensure they’re reported correctly on your tax return.”
}
}, {
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “How much does a real estate CPA cost in South Pasadena?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Real estate CPA fees in South Pasadena typically range from $1,500–$5,000 per year for a single rental property owner, and $5,000–$20,000+ for investors with larger portfolios or complex strategies like cost segregation and 1031 exchanges. KDA Inc. offers a free initial consultation to assess your situation and provide a transparent fee estimate. Most clients find that KDA’s fees are recovered many times over through tax savings in the first year alone.”
}
}, {
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “What is a family limited partnership (FLP) and how can it benefit real estate investors?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “A Family Limited Partnership (FLP) is a partnership structure that allows you to transfer real estate to family members at a valuation discount — reducing estate and gift tax. You (the general partner) maintain control of the properties while transferring limited partnership interests to children or trusts at a 15–40% discount to fair market value (because LP interests have no control and limited marketability). For a South Pasadena investor with a $5M real estate portfolio, an FLP could allow you to transfer $1M in LP interests at a taxable gift value of $600,000–$850,000. KDA’s team works with estate planning attorneys to structure FLPs correctly.”
}
}, {
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “What are the tax benefits of investing in commercial real estate vs. residential?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Commercial real estate tax strategy in South Pasadena centers on cost segregation and bonus depreciation. While the 39-year depreciation life sounds worse than residential’s 27.5 years, commercial properties typically have more qualifying personal property and land improvements — meaning a larger percentage gets reclassified to 5, 7, or 15-year property in a cost segregation study. With permanent 100% bonus depreciation (OBBBA), this creates enormous first-year deductions. KDA’s South Pasadena commercial real estate CPA team will maximize your depreciation strategy.”
}
}, {
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “Can a married couple use Real Estate Professional Status if only one spouse qualifies?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Yes — and this is one of the most powerful applications of REPS for high-income couples in South Pasadena. If one spouse qualifies as a real estate professional (750+ hours, majority of working time), the couple can use rental losses to offset the other spouse’s W-2 income on their joint return. A couple where one spouse earns $400,000 in W-2 income and the other qualifies for REPS with $200,000 in rental losses can save $74,000+ in federal taxes. KDA’s team will evaluate both spouses’ time allocations and structure the most advantageous approach.”
}
}, {
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “What is bonus depreciation and how does it work for real estate in 2026?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Bonus depreciation allows real estate investors to immediately deduct 100% of qualifying short-life assets (5-, 7-, and 15-year property) in the year they are placed in service, rather than depreciating them over their useful life. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, 2025, permanently restored 100% bonus depreciation for qualifying property acquired after January 19, 2025. This is a massive win for South Pasadena real estate investors — when combined with a cost segregation study, you can write off $100,000–$300,000+ in year one on a single property.”
}
}, {
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “How does the QBI deduction apply to rental real estate?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “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 South Pasadena 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.”
}
}, {
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “What is a cost segregation study and how does it save taxes?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Cost segregation identifies building components — flooring, fixtures, landscaping, electrical systems — that qualify for accelerated depreciation. Instead of depreciating your entire building over 27.5 years, you write off 20–30% of the purchase price in year one. On a $1M property, that’s $200,000–$300,000 in accelerated deductions. Combined with the 100% bonus depreciation restored by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (2025), this is the most powerful first-year tax strategy available to real estate investors in South Pasadena.”
}
}, {
“@type”: “Question”,
“name”: “What credentials should I look for in a real estate CPA?”,
“acceptedAnswer”: {
“@type”: “Answer”,
“text”: “Credentials matter, but specialization matters more. A CPA who does real estate taxes for 5% of their clients is less valuable than one for whom it’s 100% of their practice. Ask directly: ‘What percentage of your clients are real estate investors?’ At KDA, the answer is 100%. Our South Pasadena team lives and breathes real estate tax law — it’s all we do.”
}
}
]
}