The question of whether real estate was or was not a capital asset in the hands of the taxpayer was the key issue in the case of Keefe v. Commissioner,[1] CA2, Case Nos. 18-2357, 18-2594, affirming TC Memo 2018-28. This issue comes up often with real estate, with taxpayers having a particular interest when they are unable to recover what they had invested in the property upon disposing of it.

Following a loss in the Tax Court, a case we had previously written about when originally decided in March of 2018 (Mansion Property Was Never Actually Used in a Rental Activity, Loss Was Capital), the taxpayers appealed the decision to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals

The question of whether real estate was or was not a capital asset in the hands of the taxpayer became an issue in the case of Keefe v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2018-28.  While the issue can arise with other assets, real estate investments are generally large enough that the question of whether a gain or loss on sale is capital, §1231 or ordinary is often a very significant issue, with high stakes involved.

In this case, the taxpayer was looking at a seven-figure loss on the sale of a historic waterfront mansion they had acquired to restore and attempt to rent in Newport, Rhode Island.  The restoration ended up taking much longer than anticipated and was far costlier.  Although they talked with a real estate agent about renting out the property to wealthy individuals who were expected to pay $75,000 a month for the property during peak season, it was never actually rented out.

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