Mom & Pop Landlords - Say Hello to the IRS

The IRS has announced new rules for landlords of rental properties that govern what must be reported and how. Actually the rules have been around for some time and larger landlords ( those who own big apartment complexes or multiple homes) have always had to comply. Now the IRS wants even the little mom & pop owners of one or two properties to comply.

The rules basically cover reporting the payments made to small contractors for the common small jobs that landlord often contract out. The rules state that any work that exceeds $600 must be reported on a 1099 that is sent to the contractor (and the IRS). To read the whole article about the new rules click here.

I suppose it shouldn't come as any surprise that the federal government, just like state and local governments, is now scraping for every dime of revenue and thus going after the little guys, too. It remains to be seem how well this will work, since much of this type of work is likely done on a cash basis and a part of the vast underground cash economy in America.