Articles

• Structured Installment Sale: How It Works, Costs and Trade-offs

  How a structured installment sale works under Section 453: the buyer pays in full, you set the schedule, what it costs and what your CPA checks, with examples.

• Installment Sale of Real Estate: Rentals, Land and Your Home

  How an installment sale of real estate is taxed: rentals, commercial property, land and your home, with the $250k/$500k exclusion, recapture and debt rules.

• Installment Sale of S Corp Stock, LLC and Partnership Interests

  Can you sell private stock or an LLC interest on installments? Yes, with limits: public stock never qualifies and a partnership's hot assets are taxed up front.

• Annualized Income Installment Method: Estimated Tax After a Sale

  How the annualized income installment method (Form 2210 Schedule AI) cuts estimated tax penalties when a big gain or installment sale lands late in a year.

• Capital Gains and IRMAA: How a Sale Raises Medicare Premiums

  Yes, capital gains raise IRMAA. How the 2-year lookback works, 2026 brackets, why a sale is not a life-changing event, and how an installment sale can help.

• Gross Profit Percentage on an Installment Sale (Worked Examples)

  How to calculate the gross profit percentage on an installment sale: selling price vs contract price, assumed mortgages, recapture and later price cuts.

• How to Spread Capital Gains Over Several Years (With the Math)

  How to spread capital gains over several years with an installment sale, how the 0% and 15% brackets fill, and a lump-sum vs 5-year vs 10-year tax comparison.

• Installment Method Accounting: Book vs Tax and Journal Entries

  Installment method accounting explained: GAAP vs tax, deferred gross profit, sample journal entries for a seller-financed sale, and the deferred tax liability.

• Notes Receivable: What They Are and How a Seller's Note Is Taxed

  What notes receivable are, whether they are current or long-term assets, and how a note from selling property is booked and taxed, principal and interest.

• Seller Financing With an Existing Mortgage: Payoff, Assume, Wrap

  Can you seller-finance with a mortgage still on the property? How a payoff at closing, an assumed loan and a wraparound note change year-one tax, with examples.

• Selling a House to a Family Member: Gift of Equity, Taxes, Notes

  Selling a house to a family member: gift of equity and Form 709, the buyer's basis, the home sale exclusion, no loss deduction, and seller financing at the AFR.

• Wash Sale Rule, Including IRAs, When You Sell on Installments

  The wash sale rule in plain English: the 61-day window, substantially identical, IRA and spouse purchases, and why a loss must survive it to offset installment gain.

• What Happens to an Installment Note When the Seller Dies

  When a seller dies mid-note, heirs get the payments and the tax. How IRD, the missing step-up, §691(c) and self-canceling notes work, with an example.

• Applicable Federal Rate (AFR) October 2026: Tables and How to Use Them

  What the applicable federal rate is, how to read the IRS AFR table, the October 2026 rates, and which AFR applies to installment notes and family loans.

• Contract for Deed: Who Pays Property Tax, How It Works, Risks

  What a contract for deed is, who pays the property tax (usually the buyer), whether it must be recorded, and the state rules on forfeiture or foreclosure.

• Due on Sale Clause: What It Means for Seller Financing

  What a due on sale clause is, the Garn-St Germain exceptions, why subject-to deals and wraps carry the risk, and what a called loan does to your taxes.

• How to Structure Seller Financing: Terms, Down Payment, Balloon

  How to structure a seller financing deal: down payment, rate and AFR, amortization and balloon, security, prepayment, servicing and the tax each year.

• Is Seller Financing a Good Idea? Pros, Cons and Risks for Sellers

  When seller financing is a good idea for a seller and when it is not: pros, cons, default risk, the tax effect, a cash vs note example and a decision checklist.

• Land Contract vs Seller Financing: Title, Default and Taxes

  A seller financing land contract keeps title with the seller until paid; a note and deed of trust transfers it now. Compare title, default rules and taxes.

• Land Contract: How It Works for Sellers, Risks and Taxes

  What a land contract is, how a land contract sale works step by step, the pros and cons for the seller, and how the IRS taxes it on the installment method.

• Real Estate Promissory Note: What Sellers Need in the Note

  What a real estate promissory note is, the clauses a seller-financed note needs, how it differs from a mortgage or deed of trust, and how the note is taxed.

• Rent to Own vs Owner Financing: Which Is Better for the Seller?

  Rent to own (lease option) vs owner financing for sellers: ownership, default remedies, due-on-sale risk and how each is taxed, with a side-by-side example.

• SBA Seller Note Rules: Standby, Equity Injection and Taxes

  SBA seller note rules under SOP 50 10 for business sellers: full standby, the equity injection cap, what changes October 1, 2026, and how the note is taxed.

• Seller Financing Addendum: What It Covers and What to Add

  What a seller financing addendum covers, the Texas TREC form, California disclosures, federal lending rules, and the terms and tax items sellers should raise.

• Seller Financing Balloon Payment: How It Works and How It's Taxed

  How a seller financing balloon payment works, the balance due at 3, 5, 7 and 10 years, how the balloon is taxed, and balloon vs fully amortizing.

• Seller Financing Commercial Real Estate: Terms, Taxes and Risks

  How seller financing commercial real estate works: common structures, note terms, how the gain is taxed year by year, and a worked $3 million building example.

• Seller Financing Contract Terms: What to Put in the Note

  The documents and terms in a seller financing contract, from down payment and rate to balloon and due-on-sale, and how each term changes the seller's tax.

• Seller Financing Example: Payments, Interest and the Seller's Tax

  Figure a seller-financed payment, the balloon, interest income and the tax on your gain each year. Worked example, formulas and the traps sellers miss.

• Seller Financing Interest Income: How to Report It

  How seller financing interest income is taxed and reported: Schedule B with the buyer's SSN, when Form 1098 or 1099-INT applies, and interest vs principal.

• Seller Financing Loan Servicing: What a Servicer Does and Costs

  What a servicer does on a seller-financed note: collecting, crediting, escrow, year-end tax info, late notices, payoffs, typical fees, and self-servicing.

• Seller Financing Rules: Dodd-Frank, the SAFE Act and State Law

  Seller financing rules in plain English: Dodd-Frank's one- and three-property exclusions, the Reg Z creditor test, the SAFE Act, business loans and state law.

• Seller Financing a Home: Selling Your House With Owner Financing

  How seller financing a home works for the seller: the note and deed of trust, lending rules, the home sale exclusion, interest reporting and a worked example.

• Seller Financing vs Bank Financing: What Changes for the Seller

  Seller financing vs a bank loan from the seller's side: price, speed, year-one tax, default risk, yield and liquidity, with a worked example and table.

• Selling a Promissory Note: Discounts, Note Buyers and Taxes

  How selling a promissory note or owner-financed note works, how note buyers price the discount, full vs partial sales, and the tax on selling the note.

• Does Tax Loss Harvesting Help in California? Residents vs. Nonresidents

  How California treats capital losses against installment sale gain: full ordinary rates for residents, and why a nonresident's portfolio losses barely reach CA gain.

• Form IT-2663: New York Nonresident Sellers and Installment Sales

  How Form IT-2663 works for nonresidents selling New York real estate, the 10.9% estimate, how an installment sale cuts the closing payment, and what comes later.

• Installment Sale State Taxes: Moving States After You Sell

  Which state taxes your installment sale after a move: real estate stays taxed where it sits, intangibles follow residence, and some states accelerate the gain.

• Charitable Remainder Trust vs Installment Sale Compared

  How a charitable remainder trust compares with an installment sale for appreciated property: tax at sale, income for life, what heirs get, and the traps.

• Seller Financing vs Structured Sale vs Cash: Side by Side

  Seller financing, a structured installment sale and a cash sale compared: who owes you, security, rate, cost, credit risk and tax timing, with a worked example.

Educational only, not tax, legal or investment advice. Examples are illustrative. Have your CPA or tax attorney review your facts before you act.

Hans Goldstein is an Enrolled Agent, admitted to practice before the Internal Revenue Service, and a licensed insurance agent (CA Insurance License #4273294). He is not a CPA or attorney. He is paid a commission only if a structured installment sale is funded; seller financing pays him nothing. Disclosures.