An individual’s loan to a company that went belly-up pays a tax dividend. The loss from the bad loan is a deductible business bad debt. The taxpayer, who owned a real estate mortgage company, also made loans from his personal assets. This included a $100,000 loan he made to a high-end furniture manufacturer. When the debtor failed to repay all of the funds after going out of business, the lender claimed it as a business bad debt, saying he was in the lending business. His lending activities were continuous and regular, the Tax Court says. He personally made loans totaling $25 million over three years to many borrowers, did proper due diligence, and kept adequate records. His loss is fully deductible, not limited by the $3,000 annual cap on capital losses (Bercy, TC Memo. 2019-118).

Bad Debts

by | Oct 15, 2019 | Debt, Deductions, TallyTaxMan, Tax court | 0 comments