Volume 2 • Issue 9 - May 2013From our President

F C B O R M o n t h l y N e w s l e t t e r

Gerry is the President ofThe Four Corners Board of REALTORS® You can contact her at 970-565-8408

Well, it looks like Summer is here. I do not have much news this time as everything is running smoothly.

The Board of Directors had our meeting last Thursday and all went well. I understand our scholarships were given out during our last luncheon.

I will host the barbeque at my home in July or August. That’s all for now, just keep selling!

UTE MOUNTAIN ROUNDUP RODEOSaturday, June 1st

Mutton Bustin Sign Ups at IFA Time: 9:00 AM to Noon

Wednesday, June 5th 5:30 PM

Chuckwagon BBQ in City Park***Limited Tickets Available***

Thursday, June 6th

Ute Mountain Roundup Rodeo****Family Night****Montezuma County Fairgrounds7:00 PM

Friday, June 7th

Ute Mountain Roundup RodeoMontezuma County Fairgrounds7:00 PM

Saturday, June 8th

Ute Mountain Roundup Rodeo Parade 5:00 PM on Main Street

Ute Mountain Roundup Rodeo*Tough Enough To Wear Pink Night*Montezuma County Fairgrounds7:00 PM

The 2012-2013 Four Corners Board of REALTORS Board of Directors:

President/ Gerry Parker / 565-8408 / gparker@fone.net President-Elect/ Robin Rice / 565-8408 / robinrice@fone.net

Past President / Ken Williamson / 565-2000 / kwilliamson@remax.netSecretary/Treasurer / Bob Toles / 946-1194 / BobToles@yahoo.com

Director/ Brenda K. Bates / 565-2000 / beebates@live.comDirector/ Jo Ann Cauley / 565-8408 / joannc21@fone.netDirector/ Preston Dillon / 560-9144 / psdillon@rmi.net

Director/ Dawn Utrup / 570-3110 / dawn.utrup@gmail.comCAR Director/ Carol Click / 565-2000 / carolclick@remax.net

Association Office StaffAssociation Executive / Denise Unrein / 565-0112/ fourcornersboard@gmail.com

FCBOR CALENDAR OF EVENTS

1 5/28/2013 2:45 PMstaff

Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa1

2 3 4 5 6 7 89 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 2223 24 25 26 27 28 2930

June 2013Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa

1 2 3 4 5 67 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 2021 22 23 24 25 26 2728 29 30 31

July 2013

June 2013

5/26

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1

May 26 27 28 29 30 31 Jun 1Cortez Farmers Market Dolores River Festival

6/2

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2 3 4 5 6 7 8Dolores Farmers Marke12:00pm 1:00pm

Cortez Chamber Luncheon (Addisons)

Ute Mountain Round Up Rodeo5:00pm 7:00pm

Business After Hours (Fairgrounds)

8:00am 9:00am First Leadership

Cortez Farmers Market

6/9

- 14

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Ride the Rockies (Cortez) Dolores Farmers Marke Cortez Farmers Market

6/16

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1

16 17 18 19 20 21 22Dolores Farmers Marke 9:00am 10:00am BOD

Meeting Speedway Races

Cortez Farmers Market

6/23

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8

23 24 25 26 27 28 29Dolores Farmers Marke12:00pm 1:00pm

Dolores Chamber Luncheon (Karlas Kitchen)

Grand Summer Nights Cortez Farmers Market9:00pm 10:00pm

Fireworks over Groundhog Lake (Groundhog Lake)

6/30

- 7

/5

30 Jul 1 2 3 4 5 6

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

According to Philip Panitz a nationally known tax litigator with Panitz & Kossoff the IRS is casting a very wide net against what they perceive as abuse in the area real estate. The IRS is claiming that too many passive investors are using losses from real estate investments to offset their other income.

Tyrone Adams, VP Member Services took some time to discuss a little more in depth with Mr. Panitz why the IRS is unwilling to allow legitimate real estate professionals who spend the requisite 750+ hours and over 50% of their time doing real estate endeavors, claim their losses.

TA: It appears this issue is not really new, are there other reasons the IRS is auditing more real estate profes-sionals?

Panitz: Although the IRS never admits which taxpayers are in their crosshairs, it’s clear that real estate profes-sionals are being targeted because previous audits of real estate investors have netted a large amount of tax adjustments due to loss disallowance. Success breeds success which leads the IRS to determine that there has been a tax gap or abuse in this area. In the 1990’s I averaged about two real estate professional cases a year and now I average about ten. There’s a reason for that.

TA: What does the law say about claiming failed investments on your taxes?

Panitz: A “failed” investment in real estate could mean one of two things. It’s either an ongoing investment that is losing the investor money in the short term when monthly expenses and depreciation exceed income or a loss upon complete liquidation of the investment. The distinction is significant. The IRS attacks “losses” that exceed income from the investment, particularly if they are offsetting other income on an investor’s tax return. However, when a property is liquidated for a loss, which is a capital loss that the IRS is not disputing the sale year as the appropriate time to take the loss. Unfortunately, if you are not a real estate professional, you can only write off $3,000 per year against other non-capital income.

TA: What are some red flags that would put our members at risk of being audited?

Panitz: Anytime an investor is moving losses from their Schedule E properties and offsetting other income from a W-2 job, you are almost painting the red flag “scarlet.” That screams to the IRS “audit me.” That doesn’t mean that the losses are not legitimate, and if the investor qualifies as a real estate professional they will be allowed, but it almost guarantees at least the IRS is going to look at it.

TA: What is the audit process like for small business owners?

Panitz: It’s surprising to some but the “audit process” for small business owners is excruciatingly painful, more so than large business owners. It comes down to time and money. Small business owners typically don’t have the resources to spend a lot of time gathering information to comply with the IRS’ numerous requests, and the com-mon complaint is that an IRS audit takes the owner of the business away from their business without anybody to cover for them.

TA: If I am the broker/owner of an office and one of my brokers is audited will it have a domino effect and now the other brokers including me the broker owner become likely candidates for being audited?

Panitz: I have not seen in practice an audit of a real estate investor/broker causing additional audits of other bro-kers in the same office. Since most of the real estate professional audits are for properties deducted on a Sched-ule E of a personal 1040 tax return, these are “individual audits” and not company audits and the IRS auditor is focused on that particular individual.

TA: What do our members need to know or do to be prepared if they are audited?

Panitz: The best advice I can give real estate investors to support their deductions is to keep a contemporaneous log of their time managing their real estate investments, as well as the time they spend on real estate in general. Keep really good substantiation of their expenses, and sometimes it is handy to cross-reference their log to the expense item. IRS auditors usually go away a lot faster when the taxpayer isn’t just telling them the way things are, but showing them with objective proof the way things are. If you spend ten hours painting an apartment building, the entry of ten hours in your log might mention the cost of the paintbrushes, the paint, the tarp, the invoice from a painter if you paid someone else, the yellow page ad showing the painter you called, the phone calls you made shopping for a painter, all of these items objectively corroborate the time the investor says he spent on the project. The more the auditor is overwhelmed with the taxpayer’s thorough records, the more likely the taxpayer has bought him or herself a “no change” audit.

TA: How long does the audit process take?

Panitz: The audit process can take a couple of months, or a year. It will depend upon the taxpayers records, and if the auditor has to keep asking for additional information and how long it takes for the taxpayer to get back to the auditor. I typically recommend that the taxpayer NOT sign waivers of the statute of limitations, this will give the IRS unlimited time to keep asking for more information. The more organized the taxpayer, the shorter time period of the audit, and the less painful it will be.

TA: If the audit findings reveal some discrepancies intentional or not what happens? Fines? Criminal charges?

Panitz: If there are mistakes on a tax return, this normally does not result in criminal charges. Mistakes happen. On the other hand, if the audit reveals that the taxpayer was keeping a separate set of books and declaring 10% of what he was actually earning, you might be facing a criminal investigation for tax evasion. A normal audit, where the IRS determines that there is an additional tax liability could add some negligence penalties and failure to pay penalties plus interest. Of course, just because the IRS says that they have disallowed deductions doesn’t mean they are correct. A tax professional should always be assisting the taxpayer through the audit process, and sometimes that tax professional will advise the taxpayer to fight the audit because the auditor is simply wrong. The IRS is not infallible, far from it.

You can learn more about the IRS increasing audits on real estate professionals by going to Panitz & Kossoff website at http://www.pktaxlaw.com/.Tags: Agent, Broker, Colorado, Investment, IRS, Real Estate, REALTOR, REALTOR AssociationPosted in News

CommunityHighlights

New Cortez entryway features, South Broadway medians and downtown pedestrian improvements coming!The goal is to have the most of the landscaping in the South Broadway medians installed be-fore school starts in the fall, with the exception of any plants that might fare better with a spring installation. The beautification plan will also include artwork and the City will be soon be request-ing RFQ's from artists for artwork to include in the medians. More information on this aspect of the project will be coming within the next month.Building fees dropped for projects greater than $1 million: The original building permit fee was $5,953.75 for the first $1 million of a project, and an ad-ditional $4 for each additional $1,000 or a fraction of that thousand. The council decreased the rate to $2 for each additional $1,000 (or fraction therof) The fees for structures less than $1 mil-lion will remain the same.

Building a new Montezuma Cortez High SchoolIn the summer of 2012, RE-1 School District received a grant of $22.7 million from Building Ex-cellent Schools Today (BEST). In order to utilize the funds the district had to provide a 48% match and in the fall of 2012 local voters approved these matching funds in the form of a 20 year bond for $21.25 million. The project began in early 2013 and the first class will enter the facility in the fall of 2015. Here are a few project highlights:

• New LEED Certified High School designed with respect to local history and setting• Located on an easily accessible 35 acre campus in town• Highest level energy efficiency• Flexible classrooms equipped for 21st Century technology• Multi-use performance space/auditorium• Full athletic fields

Dolores Schools RemodelIn the summer of 2012, Dolores School District received a $2.62 million from Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST). In order to utilize these funds, a match was needed of $3.47 million from local voters which it received in the fall of 2012. These funds will be used for capital improve-ments in a number of areas within the RE-4 district as noted below. Project highlights include:

• Elementary and Middle school classroom additions• Science & Agriculture Building replacement• Locker room remodelling, additions to the fire sprinkler system and site drainage corrections• Project completion date by 2015