Final answer:
Brandon can use the full $21,000 net loss from his rental real estate activities to offset his nonpassive income, reducing his adjusted gross income to $63,000 for tax purposes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question involves calculating the amount of rental real estate activity loss that Brandon can use to offset his nonpassive income in accordance with the tax code. Brandon has a total rental real estate activity loss of $48,000 and a rental income of $27,000. ]
When it comes to rental real estate activities in which there is active participation, the IRS allows the taxpayer to deduct up to $25,000 of loss against nonpassive income if their modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is $100,000 or less.
This deduction phases out by $0.50 for each dollar of MAGI above $100,000 and is completely phased out when MAGI is $150,000 or more.
In this case, Brandon's adjusted gross income (AGI) is initially $84,000 before considering passive activities.
First, we offset the $48,000 loss with the $27,000 income from the other rental activity, resulting in a net rental activity loss of $21,000.
Since Brandon's AGI is below $100,000, he is allowed to deduct this entire net loss against his nonpassive income. Therefore, Brandon can use the full $21,000 net loss to offset his nonpassive income of $84,000, reducing his AGI to $63,000 for tax purposes.