When To Use An Installment Sale

Published Thursday, February 25, 2016 at: 7:00 AM EST

Do you own commercial or investment real estate you're planning to sell? If the property has appreciated in value since you bought it, and you've been writing off your initial cost through depreciation deductions, you could owe a hefty tax on the transaction. What's more, you might not be able to find a buyer that can come up with all of the cash—at least not at your asking price.

You may be able, however, to kill two birds with one stone. An installment sale of commercial or investment real estate can let you defer the tax over several years, reducing the overall tax bite. In addition, the buyer can spread out the payments. There are no special conditions; the tax law specifies only that the payments must be made over two or more years.

Except for the effect of having the sale happen gradually, the basic tax rules for real estate transactions continue to apply. If you make a profit, it will be taxed as a capital gain. If you've held the property for more than one year, your long-term capital gain will be taxed at a maximum rate of 15%, or 20% if you're in the top ordinary income tax bracket of 39.6%. You also may be liable for the 3.8% surtax on net investment income.

You generally will owe tax on a portion of your gain in the year of the sale and the remainder in the years during which you receive the installment payments. The taxable portion is based on something called the "gross profit ratio"—your gross profit from the real estate sale divided by the price. Suppose that you sell a commercial building, your gain is $1 million, and the gross profit ratio is 60%. If you receive $250,000 a year, you are taxed on $150,000 (60% of $250,000) of the proceeds annually. Assuming a 20% long-term capital gain tax rate (and excluding any net investment income surtax), your tax each year on the installment sale is $30,000 (20% of $150,000).

Any depreciation you claim on the property must be recaptured as ordinary income to the extent it exceeds the amount allowed under the straight-line depreciation method. However, spreading out the tax over a number of years will take greater advantage of the 15% tax rate on long-term capital gain.

Finally, there's one other potential tax pitfall. If the sale price of your property (other than farm or personal property) exceeds $150,000, you'll have to pay interest on the tax that is deferred to the extent that your outstanding installment obligations exceed $5 million.

While installment sale treatment on your tax return is automatic, you can opt out if that suits your purposes—for example, if your income was otherwise low for the year. In that case, the entire gain is taxable in the year of the sale. But these rules are complicated, so be sure to get expert tax advice about your situation.

This article was written by a professional financial journalist for MJM Financial Advisors, LLC and is not intended as legal or investment advice.

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