Tax legislation of 1976 and 1978 : an analysis of its effects on the rates of return of income-producing real estate

Abstract

For many years, real estate investments were treated quite benevolently by the tax statutes. Although many of the pre-1964 tax benefits were severely reduced by the tax legislation of 1964, 1969 and 1976, the Revenue Act of 1978 serves to restore a significant portion of the real estate investment tax incentives of earlier years. The purpose of the study is to analyze the combined impact of the Tax Reform Act of 1976 and the Revenue Act of 1978 along with two recently debated tax law changes on the internal rates of return and optimal holding periods of selected income-producing properties (other than low-income housing). Two generalized deterministic computer simulation models address a total of 864 different sets of assumptions pertaining to the character and size of an investor's pre-investment income and varied uses of component and composite depreciation methods in light of the pre-Tax Reform Act provisions and the post-Revenue Act provisions. The two recently debated tax law changes considered are in the areas of capital gains treatment and allowable accelerated depreciation alternatives. Several general conclusions based upon the findings of the study are as follows: 1. The net impact of the 1976 and 1978 tax Acts is generally very minor for many investors in commercial and residential properties (other than low-income housing). 2. The Congressional intent for the 1976 and 1978 tax changes included in this study is not supported by that legislation if the Acts are considered collectively rather than individually. 3. Compounded rates of change in net operating income and property value as small as two percent can cause dramatic changes in the after-tax internal rates of return and optimal holding periods of income-producing real estate. 4. No variation in the depreciation method nor the tax bracket level of an investor can cause a project to be a viable investment if that project is unsound from an economic standpoint. 5...