Tax reduction and tax deferral are the primary benefits of obtaining a cost segregation study. Income taxes are a substantial burden for most real estate investors. Tax deductions help with this burden. While some level of taxation is necessary, it is both inappropriate and imprudent to pay more than your fair share.

Income tax is based on net profit or taxable income. The basic formula for calculating taxable income is revenue less expenses (tax deductions). Expenses can include both direct payments to third parties (labor, rent, supplies, etc.) and non-cash deduction. The primary non-cash deductions are depreciation and amortization. Tax reduction (tax cuts) are a direct result of increasing tax deductions.

The tax deduction benefit real estate owners gain from cost segregation is a higher level of depreciation. This non-cash tax deduction reduces taxable income and income taxes. For example, if the amount of depreciation increased by $100,000 (as result of a cost segregation study), taxable income would decrease by $100,000, and the owner experiences a $35,000 reduction in taxes (based on 35% tax rate).

Most real estate owners depreciate real estate based upon splitting the cost basis between land and improvements. The property owner or tax preparer typically estimates the portion for the land and attributes the balance to long-life improvements. Long-life improvements depreciate over 27.5 years for rental residential property and 39 years for commercial property

While this simplistic method is lawful, it cheats the real estate owner of tax deductions. A cost segregation study identifies up to 130 short-life components. (Cost segregation is different than component depreciation, which was available until the early 1908s. However, the result of both is to increase depreciation and tax deductions during the early years of ownership.) These short-life components typically comprise 20-50% of the improvement cost basis and are depreciated over 5 years (20.0% per year), 7 years (14.29% per year) and 15 years (6.67% per year).

Depreciation effectively changes the character of income from ordinary income to capital gains income. While the maximum income tax rate for ordinary income is 35%, the maximum rate for capital gains is 15% (less than half the ordinary income tax). This affects substantial income tax reduction.

Increasing depreciation also affects deferral of payment of income taxes. Instead of paying taxes (at the ordinary income tax rate) in the year income is earned, taxes are paid (at the capital gain rate) in the year the property is sold. Cost segregation effectively generates an interest free loan (until the property is sold) and reduces the tax rate (from 35% to 15%).

Click here for a FREE preliminary analysis of tax savings resulting from your property.

Cost segregation produces tax deductions and reduces federal income taxes across the country and in every size market. Below are just a few examples of where cost segregation generates meaningful tax deductions.

City:

Miami, FL

Bridgeport, CT

Washington, DC

San Francisco, CA

Atlanta, GA

Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX

New Orleans, LA

New York, NY

Baltimore, MD

Hartford, CT

Indianapolis, IN

Wichita, KS

Detroit, MI

Charleston, SC

Providence, RI

Grand Rapids, MI

Jacksonville, TN

Boise, ID

Santa Rosa, CA

Columbia, SC

Columbus, OH

Oxnard, CA

Greensboro, NC

Allentown, PA

Harrisburg, PA

Louisville, KY

Fresno, CA

Akron, OH

Chicago, IL

Portland, OR

Cost segregation produces tax deductions for virtually all property types.

Property Type:

Manufacturing/processing

Tennis club

Retirement home

Auto service garage

Mini-warehouse

Single-tenant retail

Medical facility

Hotel

Retail

Vacant land

Almost every industry, including the following, can generate cost-efficient tax deductions by using cost segregation.

Industry:

Wood product manufacturing

Warehousing and storage

Truck transportation

Transportation equipment manufacturing

Textile product mills

Textile mills

Real estate lesser

Publishers

Printing activities

Plastic and rubber products manufacturing

O’Connor & Associates is a national provider of commercial property real estate consulting services including. commercial real estate appraisal , tax deduction , cost segregation, Lease Abstraction, property tax, market research, market studies, estate taxes, Collin central appraisal district, Tips and Tricks for Appealing Your Property Taxes in Denton, denton county appraisal, Federal tax reduction.

Patrick O’Connor

Orlando, FL — November 04, 2008 — It is no surprise that medical coders and billers are essential to the success of every practice. A well-prepared coding and billing staff will deliver careful chart examination, accurate code selection, cleaner claims, fewer denials, and enhanced revenue.

Staying on top of coding changes affecting their specialty is crucial to a medical coder and biller. Why? Because even a simple mistake can lead to thousands of dollars in lost revenue.

In preparation for the 519 new, revised and deleted CPT changes expected for 2009, coding and billing professionals across the nation are expected to attend the 2009 Coding Update and Reimbursement Conference on Dec. 4-6, 2008 in Orlando, FL or Feb. 8-10, 2009 in Las Vegas, NV. Attendees at these conferences will be provided with the most up-to-date information for their specialty from nationally-recognized coding, billing and reimbursement leaders.
At the Orlando conference, there will be 12 specialty tracks to choose from, including: Ambulatory Surgery Center, Anesthesia, Clinical Lab, General Surgery, Multi-Specialty, Neurosurgery, Oncology, Ophthalmology, Optometry, Orthopedic, Pain Management and Pathology. Additionally, attendees will be able to jump from one specialty track to another free of charge.

At the Las Vegas conference, there will be 9 specialty tracks to choose from, including: Ambulatory Surgery Center, Family Practice, Internal Medicine, Intervention Radiology, Multi-Specialty, Ob-Gyn, Orthopedic, Pathology, and Pediatrics. Additionally, attendees will be able to jump from one specialty track to another free of charge. Early-Bird registration rates end December 8th.

“These upcoming conferences are particularly important,” said Coding Conferences President Samantha Saldukas. “Staying on top of changes affecting their specialty will help coders and billers to maximize their skill-set, reduce claim denials, and receive the reimbursement they deserve; all while contributing to their practices financial stability in 2009.”

These national coding conferences have been organized by Coding Conferences, LLC and The Coding Institute. Sponsors and exhibitors at the Orlando conference include the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC), Ingenix, American Medical Association (AMA), ClaimRemedi, and Coding Cert.

For more information, visit them at www.codingconferences.com or call Coding Conferences at 866-251-3060.

IN strongest warning yet to opposition leaders, Iran’s supreme leader has said that questioning the results of Iran’s June presidential election would be considered a criminal act.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters in Iran, did not go so far as to order the arrest of those leaders, as called for by hard-liners, but his words signaled the government could take stronger action if the criticism continues.

“The day after the election, some people, without logic or reason, called the glorious election a lie,” state television quoted Khamenei as saying.

He said questioning the election was “the biggest crime.”

Opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, has said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stole the June 12 election from him through massive vote fraud. Hundreds of thousands of protesters poured into the streets in the days after the vote, prompting the government to stage a violent crackdown.

Although the street protests died down months ago, Mousavi and other leading opposition figures, including fellow presidential candidate, Mahdi Karroubi, and former President Mohammad Khatami, have refused to silence their protests.

Khamenei said he sent private messages to those who continue to question the election telling them they may not be able to control the future direction of events – an implied threat of additional government action if they fail to cease their activities. He did not name specific individuals.

The supreme leader has supported Ahmadinejad throughout the election crisis, including during the subsequent crackdown that resulted in hundreds of arrests and multiple deaths. The government has confirmed 30 people were killed, while the opposition says the 72 died.

The simmering post-election unrest has received less international attention in recent weeks, overshadowed by speculation about whether Iran will accept a UN-drafted plan to ship most of its low-enriched uranium to Russia for further enrichment.

Iran’s state al Alam television yesterday reported the Tehran had formally presented its response to the fuel deal to the head of the International Atomic Energy Organisation (IAEA), giving no details. Iran had missed an October 23 UN deadline for a reply.

World powers have complained of Iranian stalling and obfuscation on proposals meant to defuse a long standoff over its disputed nuclear aspirations.

Iran will risk rekindling demands for harsher sanctions without movement on the fuel plan and other nuclear transparency measures before the end of the year, Western diplomats said.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to Reuters yesterday reiterated that Iran would not retreat “one iota” on its right to a sovereign nuclear programme. But, “fortunately, conditions have been prepared for international cooperation in the nuclear field,” he said in a speech in the northeastern city of Mashhad.

“We welcome cooperation on nuclear fuel, power plants and technology and we are ready to cooperate.” He did not say whether Iran would accept the deal or demand changes.

Iran’s IAEA ambassador, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, declined to say what Iran’s position was other than that it was “positive.”

“We expect that our technical and economic concerns will be taken into consideration when dealing with the modalities of supply of nuclear fuel for the Tehran research reactor.”

The draft fuel deal was hammered out by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei in follow-up talks to an October 1 meeting between Iran and six world powers in Geneva, where Iran also agreed to open a previously secret enrichment site for UN inspections.

Four senior IAEA inspectors returned to Vienna yesterday after a first visit to the site and the team chief said “we had a good trip” but would not elaborate. Details are likely to come in the IAEA’s next quarterly report on Iran in mid-November.

I think you’ll agree there is greater awareness these days of management incompetence. Not a week goes by without the business press reporting another large local or overseas company in trouble.

Right now we are seeing a lot of business commentary on the failure of finance companies, along with scathing accusations on the competence of their leaders. In most cases, this is highly justified. I can say this with confidence as I have personally been burnt by four of them!

I don’t think managers today are any more incompetent than they were when I entered the workforce. There is a consensus (Hogan 2007) that the increased use of climate surveys by organisations has given a greater voice for workers to highlight poor management processes.

The old saying, “The buck stops at the top” is so true. Organisations that are struggling usually have an incompetent leader. An article in a recent edition of the Harvard Business Review places the blame fairly and squarely on the shoulder of the people involved in the hiring process – usually the board of directors.

This led renowned business writer Ram Charan to quip, “It’s interesting to observe the length company directors go to doing due diligent on impending company buy-outs or mergers, yet they usually place the fate of these acquisitions in the hands of people who were appointed on a handshake.” 

Fernandez and Araoz (1999) attribute executive failure, and indeed organisational collapse, on the initial recruitment process of its leader. They outline “Ten Deadly Traps” company boards (or the chairperson) fall into during the executive selection process:

1. Trying to replicate the person who just left.
2. Not being clear what the job to be filled actually is.
3. Choosing the candidate based on his or her response to your favourite questions.
4. Taking interview answers at face value.
5. Believing the reports of referees and not doing a thorough background check.
6. Hiring someone who is just like you.
7. Allowing junior personnel, or a recruitment agent to run the hiring process.
8. Hiring the person using an unstructured interview.
9. Ignoring or failing to check “under the waterline” – a psychometric profile to check personality attributes and mental ability.
10. Members of the selection committee hiring in a weaker candidate to enhance their own chances of getting ahead.

The above seems to make common sense given the criticism of the interview process. Serious flaws of personality and character coexist quite nicely with excellent social skills. About the only thing an unstructured selection interview can evaluate is social skill (Hogan 2007).

The literature is very clear that personality and leadership are closely connected – who you are determines how you lead – and the standard measures of normal personality characteristics are robust predictors of leadership performance (Hogan 2007).

So the next time you read, hear or view a commentary on an organisation in trouble take a close look at the leadership. Do you think the leader is falling short on any of Elmer’s (2003) key themes of leadership success?

- The ability to maintain self control
- They treat others with respect irrespective of the person’s level in the organisation. 
- The ability to build, motivate and maintain a team(s) to a common goal.
- The ability to assert control of others to the right degree, in the right amount, at the right time.
- Integrity
 
It is a very easy task to translate the above themes into a language of personality and link these to specific job competencies – that is exactly what the ASSESS psychometric platform does.

In summary, failing companies are usually driven by incompetent leaders who are hired by boards of directors who fail to adhere to a structured selection process and don’t check “below the waterline”. They place all their selection weight on the candidate’s knowledge, experience and skill to lead their organisation – can they do the job?

But the bigger burning question is, “How will they do the job?” A validated psychometric assessment will answer this question. Hiring directors usually defer to gut feel in this department. First impressions can be dangerous. Just because the person is outward going, exudes self-confidence, is articulate and well presented doesn’t mean they will be exceptional leaders. It does however tell you that they are very good at interviews, and let’s face it, this is the very best you are going to see in this person.

If the candidate doesn’t have the personality, mental ability, values and motives of a leader the directors will be placing their company in the hands of another failing executive.          

Hey, check out these auctions: No auctions available. Cool, arent they?

Hey, check out these auctions: No auctions available. Cool, arent they?

Hey, check out these auctions: No auctions available. Cool, arent they?

Hey, check out these auctions: No auctions available. Cool, arent they?

Hey, check out these auctions: No auctions available. Cool, arent they?

Hey, check out these auctions: No auctions available. Cool, arent they?