Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Implications Of Cost Segregation Depreciation On Income Tax

By Freida Michael


Many investors are not aware of how they can lessen their tax burden through this practice. This is done through implementing tax strategies which aim at reducing property owners tax burden. One of the powerful tax strategies to reduce burden today is cost segregation depreciation.

This idea identifies properties fixed in organization buildings or purchasing expenditure that attracts depreciation charge for more than five years to fifteen years rather than the twenty seven years standard limit. These costs are then classified according to their similarities and then depreciated allowing the company to reduce their tax burden.

Since depreciation reduces a firm profit, it then also reduces the taxable amount of a business. The criteria used to apportion total expenditure of project to different assets very important as it helps to achieve accurate expenditure separation study.

The detailed engineering includes several stages as listed below. The first one is to recognize specific asset to be classified. Then collect all documents relating to this assets acquisition, installation and any other document that relate to the project and substantiate them.

The methods that can be used to apportion expenditure to projects include letter approach sometimes called survey method, residue estimation technique, sampling method and engineering approach, this method basically uses original outlay records of an asset or project.

This technique is believed to be accurate and methodical approach to use. This is because it depends on tangible documentations and it does not use estimations. Documents such as specifications, contracts, blueprints, job reports, invoices, payment request and change orders are utilized to evaluate unit charge.

Then apportion expenditure per unit to individual asset previously classified to get their total outlay. In case of any difference between the total definite expenditure and the quantitative charge, the difference is reconciled and the reason for the difference is investigated.

Then share the indirect charges to their correct classes of property. These indirect expenses include permit expenses, architectural fee and engineering charges. Asset with equal useful life are put in one category their depreciation charge calculated. Disadvantage of this method is that it consumes a lot of time. It also requires many skilled personnel to be involved. But it is preferred for its accuracy. The next approach is scrap value estimation method.

The next step is reviewing the asset to verify nature and its desired purpose or use. For reference purposes take photos some specific assets. An auditor can also request photographs of previous sites to verify the progress of construction and the status of asset before the construction began.

The residual value is then shared among the non current asset with longer life span. This method is very easy to use and takes less time. Disadvantage of this approach it lacks accuracy and the results cannot be relied upon.

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