Publication 946 |
2000 Tax Year |
Glossary
Abstract fees:
Expenses generally paid by a buyer to research the title of real
property.
Active conduct of a trade or business:
To determine if a trade or business is actively conducted requires
an examination of all the facts and circumstances. Generally, for the
section 179 deduction, a taxpayer is considered to actively conduct a
trade or business if he or she meaningfully participates in the
management or operations of the trade or business. A mere passive
investor in a trade or business does not actively conduct the trade or
business.
Adjusted basis:
The original cost of property, plus certain additions and
improvements, minus certain deductions such as depreciation allowed or
allowable and casualty losses.
Amortization:
A ratable deduction for the cost of intangible property over its
useful life.
Amount realized:
The total of all money received plus the fair market value of all
property or services received from a sale or exchange. The amount
realized also includes any liabilities assumed by the buyer and any
liabilities to which the property transferred is subject, such as real
estate taxes or a mortgage.
Basis:
A way of measuring an individual's investment in property for tax
purposes.
Business/investment use:
Usually, a percentage showing how much an item of property, such as
an automobile, is used for business and investment purposes.
Capitalized:
Expended or treated as an item of a capital nature. A capitalized
amount is not deductible as a current expense and must be included in
the basis of property.
Circumstantial evidence:
Details or facts which indirectly point to other facts.
Class life/lives:
A number of years that establishes the property class and recovery
period for most types of property under the General Depreciation
System (GDS) and Alternative Depreciation System (ADS).
Clean-fuel vehicle:
Clean-fuel vehicle property is made up of two kinds of property.
- Motor vehicles produced by an original equipment
manufacturer and designed to be propelled by a clean-burning fuel. The
only part of a vehicle's basis that qualifies for the deduction is:
- A clean-fuel engine that can use a clean-burning
fuel,
- The property used to store or deliver the fuel to the
engine, or
- The property used to exhaust gases from the combustion of
the fuel.
- Any property installed on a motor vehicle (including
installation costs) to enable it to be propelled by a clean-burning
fuel if:
- The property is an engine (or modification of an engine)
that can use a clean-burning fuel, or
- The property is used to store or deliver that fuel to the
engine or to exhaust gases from the combustion of that fuel.
Clean-fuel vehicle refueling property:
Clean-fuel vehicle refueling property includes any property (other
than a building or its structural components) used to:
- Store or dispense a clean-burning fuel into the fuel tank of
a motor vehicle propelled by the fuel, but only if the storage or
dispensing is at the point where the fuel is delivered into the tank,
or
- Recharge motor vehicles propelled by electricity, but only
if the property is located at the point where the vehicles are
recharged.
Commuting:
Travel between a personal home and work or job site within the area
of an individual's tax home.
Convention:
A method established under the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery
System (MACRS) to determine the portion of the year to depreciate
property both in the year the property is placed in service and in the
year of disposition.
Declining balance method:
An accelerated method to depreciate property. The General
Depreciation System (GDS) of MACRS uses the 150% and 200% declining
balance methods for certain types of property. A depreciation rate
(percentage) is determined by dividing the declining balance
percentage by the recovery period for the property.
Disposed:
Permanently withdrawn from use in a trade or business or from the
production of income.
Documentary evidence:
Written records which establish certain facts.
Exchange:
To barter, swap, part with, give, or transfer property for other
property or services.
Fair market value (FMV):
The price which property brings when it is offered for sale by one
who is willing but not obligated to sell, and is bought by one who is
willing or desires to buy but is not compelled to do so.
Fiduciary:
The one who acts on behalf of another as a guardian, trustee,
executor, administrator, receiver, or conservator.
Fungible commodity:
A commodity of a nature that one part may be used in place of
another part.
Goodwill:
An intangible property such as the advantage or benefit received in
property beyond its mere value. It is not confined to a name but can
also be attached to a particular area where business is transacted, to
a list of customers, or to other elements of value in business as a
going concern.
Grantor:
The one who transfers property to another.
Listed property:
Passenger automobiles, any other property used for transportation,
property of a type generally used for entertainment, recreation or
amusement, computers and their peripheral equipment (unless used only
at a regular business establishment and owned or leased by the person
operating the establishment), and cellular telephones or similar
telecommunications equipment.
Nonresidential real property:
Most real property other than residential rental property.
Nontaxable exchange:
An exchange of property in which any gain or loss realized is not
recognized (included in or deducted from income) for tax purposes.
This usually involves exchanges of like-kind property.
Placed in service:
Ready and available for a specific use whether in a trade or
business, the production of income, a tax-exempt activity, or a
personal activity.
Property class:
A category for property under MACRS. It generally determines the
depreciation method, recovery period, and convention.
Recovery period:
The number of years over which the basis (cost) of an item of
property is recovered.
Refueling property:
See Clean-fuel vehicle refueling property.
Remainder interest:
That part of an estate which is left after all the other provisions
of a will have been satisfied.
Residential rental property:
Real property, generally buildings or structures, if 80% or more of
its annual gross rental income is from dwelling units.
Salvage value:
An estimated value of property at the end of its useful life. Not
used under MACRS.
Section 1245 property:
Property that is or has been subject to an allowance for
depreciation or amortization. Section 1245 property includes personal
property, single purpose agricultural and horticultural structures,
storage facilities used in connection with the distribution of
petroleum or primary products of petroleum, and railroad grading or
tunnel bores.
Section 1250 property:
Real property (other than section 1245 property) which is or has
been subject to an allowance for depreciation.
Standard mileage rate:
The established amount for optional use in determining a tax
deduction for automobiles instead of deducting depreciation and actual
operating expenses.
Straight line method:
A way to figure depreciation for property that ratably deducts the
same amount for each year in the recovery period. The rate (in
percentage terms) is determined by dividing 1 by the number of years
in the recovery period.
Structural components:
Parts that together form an entire structure, such as a building.
The term includes those parts of a building such as walls, partitions,
floors, and ceilings, as well as any permanent coverings such as
paneling or tiling, windows and doors, and all components of a central
air conditioning or heating system including motors, compressors,
pipes and ducts. It also includes plumbing fixtures such as sinks,
bathtubs, electrical wiring and lighting fixtures, and other parts
that form the structure.
Taxable exchange:
An exchange of property in which the gain or loss is recognized
(included in or deducted from income) for tax purposes.
Tax-exempt:
Not subject to tax.
Term interest:
A life interest in property, an interest in property for a term of
years, or an income interest in a trust. It generally refers to a
present or future interest in income from property or the right to use
property which terminates or fails upon the lapse of time, the
occurrence of an event or the failure of an event to occur.
Unadjusted depreciable basis:
The basis of an item of property for purposes of figuring gain on a
sale without taking into account any depreciation taken in earlier
years but with adjustments for amortization, the section 179
deduction, any deduction claimed for clean-fuel vehicles or clean-fuel
vehicle refueling property, and any electric vehicle credit.
Unit-of-production method:
A way to figure depreciation for certain property. It is determined
by estimating the number of units that can be produced before the
property is worn out. For example, if it is estimated that a machine
will produce 1000 units before its useful life ends, and actually
produces 100 units in a year, the percentage to figure depreciation
for that year is 10% of the machine's cost less its salvage value.
Useful life:
An estimate of how long an item of property can be expected to be
usable in trade or business or to produce income. Under MACRS, you
recover the cost of property over a set recovery period. The recovery
period is based on the property class to which your property is
assigned. The class your property is assigned to is generally
determined by its class life. The class life for most property is
established and listed in Appendix B.
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