Complicated Taxation....

Well, unlike Australia, the tax year in America is based on the calendar year. While our financial year runs from July to June, theirs runs from January to December. That means, some of these forms need to be in pretty shortly (April).

Anyway, there were a number of forms that needed to be sent to various bodies around the States - four envelopes are making their way around the world as we speak:

Envelope 1 contains:
Form 1065: US Return of Partnership Income
Form 8825: Rental Real Estate Income and Expenses of a Partnership or an S Corporation
Schedule B-1: Information on Partners Owning 50% or More of the Partnership
Schedule K-1: Partner's Share of Income, Deductions, Credits, etc.
Form 4562: Depreciation and Amortization

Envelope 2 contains:
Form 8804: Tax Return for Partnership Withholding Tax (Section 1446)
Form 8805: Foreign Partner's Information Statement of Section 1446 Withholding Tax

Envelopes 3 & 4 each contain:
Form W-7: Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number
Certified copy of passport
Form 1040NR: US Non-resident Alien Income Tax Return
Form 8805: Foreign Partner's Information Statement of Section 1446 Withholding Tax

The moral of this story: get yourself a decent tax agent in the US - it's way too complicated to try and figure out on your own.

We have a tenant!

Yes! We have a tenant for the Florida condo. He's signing a 12-month lease and will be paying $925/month.

So, let's just work this through before we get too excited:

Yearly income: $925 x 12 = $11,100

Minus

Yearly expenses:

HOA Fees - $3684
Property Management Fees - $1110
Incidental maintenance - $500
Insurance - $300
Tax - $200
Banking fees - $360
Tax filing - $375
2 months' vacancy - $1850

Nett profit - $2721/year

Well, at least we're still in front, even if it's not by a lot :) Here's hoping that 5 years from now, we'll be seeing a beautiful, big capital gain!

That's the plan :P

SOLD! Port Charlotte, Florida

I just bought a block of land in Port Charlotte! Wow - this will be a gift to my daughter, if it turns out nicely in 10 years - 21st birthday - hopefully it will be worth a few extra dollars then.

Here's what I checked for: utilities, established area, schools, shopping, medical, low crime rate, access to larger centres, roads, airports, etc.

This block has no HOA/POA fees, so we can sit on it for a long time, without it hitting our pocket.