For Limited Partners

Tax Returns for Real Estate Limited Partners

Multi-state K-1s, outside basis tracked year over year, and suspended losses that are still there when the deal finally sells. No surprises at year-end.

BasisTracked every year, not estimated at exit
Multi-stateNonresident returns handled, not deferred
Subchapter KPartnership tax is the whole practice

Why this is its own service

An LP return is not a simple return

It looks like a 1040 with some extra pages attached. Underneath, three things are happening that most preparers do not do, and the cost of skipping them does not show up until the deal sells.

Outside basis nobody tracks

Section L of your K-1 shows tax basis capital, which excludes your share of partnership debt. It is not your basis. Sponsors are not required to compute yours, and most preparers never build the schedule. It gets estimated in the year it matters most.

Losses caught in three gates

A loss has to clear basis under Section 704(d), then at risk under Section 465, then the passive activity rules under Section 469. Losses blocked at any gate suspend and carry forward. They release at disposition, and only if someone kept score.

States you have never visited

A partnership holding property in a state generally creates a filing obligation for you there. Six deals can mean six nonresident returns, plus composite elections and withholding to reconcile against your resident state credit.

Pricing

Three tiers, billed annually

Every tier includes your full federal return, your resident state return, and your nonresident state returns. The tiers differ by how much planning comes with the compliance.

Essentials

For LPs who want the return prepared correctly and do not need ongoing planning.

$1,750

per year

  • Federal Form 1040 and all schedules
  • Resident state return
  • Nonresident state returns
  • Outside basis schedule maintained annually
  • At-risk and suspended passive loss tracking by activity
  • Prior-year safe harbor estimated tax vouchers
  • Extension filed and managed
  • Email support during the engagement
Book a call
Best fit for most LPs

Plus

For LPs actively deploying capital who want a second set of eyes before they commit.

$2,850

per year

  • Everything in Essentials
  • Two 30-minute strategy sessions per year
  • Annual review of your tax position across all positions
  • Pre-investment review of a deal's tax terms
  • Year-end planning session before December 31
Book a call

Complete

For LPs with lumpy income, capital events, or a deal expected to sell.

$3,650

per year

  • Everything in Plus
  • Current-year estimated tax projections
  • Quarterly recalculation as K-1 estimates and distributions arrive
  • Exit-year modeling, including depreciation recapture
  • Suspended loss release planning at disposition
Book a call

Included in every tier

  • Up to 5 Schedule K-1s
  • Up to 3 nonresident state returns
  • W-2 income, interest, dividends, and brokerage activity
  • Itemized deductions and standard credits

Priced separately

  • Additional Schedule K-1, $75 each
  • Additional nonresident state return, $150 each
  • One-time onboarding, from $500
  • Directly owned rental property, business schedules, and foreign reporting, quoted on review

About that onboarding fee. If you have been investing for several years without a basis schedule, year one includes reconstructing your outside basis and suspended losses from your K-1 history. That is a one-time project, not part of the annual fee, and it is quoted after reviewing what you have. It gets harder and more expensive every year it is deferred.

Fit

Who this is for

A fit

  • You hold LP interests in real estate syndications, funds, or joint ventures
  • You receive Schedule K-1s, often more than one, often late
  • You have filing obligations in states you do not live in
  • You have losses you are not sure you actually got to use
  • You have a deal expected to sell in the next 24 months

Not a fit

  • A W-2 only return with no partnership interests
  • A single directly owned rental property and no K-1s
  • General individual tax prep unrelated to real estate partnerships
  • Bookkeeping or tax work for an operating business

Questions

Before you book

Do you prepare my whole return, or just the K-1 portion?

Your whole return. Federal, your resident state, and every nonresident state your partnerships create a filing obligation in. Your W-2, brokerage activity, itemized deductions, and standard credits are included. Directly owned rental property, business schedules, and foreign reporting are quoted separately because they are their own work.

My K-1s always arrive in September. What happens?

We extend, by default, for every client. Partnership returns are due March 15 and nearly all of them extend to September 15, so a September K-1 is normal rather than a problem. An extension extends your time to file, not your time to pay, so we calculate and plan the April payment from your prior year position before the deadline.

What does "tracking basis" actually mean?

Maintaining a schedule for each position: contributions, income and loss allocated to you, your share of partnership liabilities, and distributions, carried forward year over year. It determines whether a loss is deductible now or suspended, whether a distribution is tax free, and what your real gain is at exit. Section L on your K-1 is close but excludes your share of debt, which on a leveraged deal is the entire difference.

What if I invest in a deal whose partnership return you prepare?

We run a conflict check before accepting any LP engagement. Depending on the situation we may decline, or set out in writing how information is handled in both directions. It is worth raising on the call rather than after the engagement letter.

Are these prices final?

They are the starting point. The final quote comes after reviewing your prior year return and a list of your positions, which takes one call. The variables that move the number are the count of K-1s, the count of states, and whether year one requires basis reconstruction.

Do you take general individual tax clients?

No. This practice is partnership tax for commercial real estate: operators, syndicators, fund managers, and the limited partners who invest alongside them. If you do not hold a K-1 from a real estate partnership, this is not the right firm and we will say so on the call.

Start with a call

Bring last year's return and a list of the deals you are in. We will go through your K-1 count, your state exposure, whether your basis has ever been tracked, and what any of it should cost. If it is not a fit, we will both know it.

Book a call

Or email matt@surefiretaxco.com