Tax Court disallows property owner’s bad debt deduction

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Abstract: A long-time real estate investor who also made occasional loans learned the hard way about what does — and doesn’t — qualify as deductible business bad debt. He claimed he was entitled to a deduction for a “business bad debt” because he had made the loan for the sole purpose of obtaining interest income. But this article explains why the Tax Court rejected his reasoning. Langert v. Commissioner (Tax Ct. 2014)