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Accounting for Tax Liens

This question comes from Kaye:

Q: How do I use Quickbooks to keep track of Tax Lien investing?

A: I will give you both the simple answer and then the more complete answer. The simple answer is that you record your investment as a long-term asset. I would name each tax lien investment separately in your chart of accounts so you can track it. The interest you receive should be recorded simply as interest income.

There will come a time, of course, when the tax lien is either repaid or you take the property. If the tax lien is repaid, you simply record the cash you receive and reduce the investment account. If you take the property, you need to record all of the costs of taking the property, including the amount you paid for the tax lien, as the cost of the property. This is now a new asset on your balance sheet.

Pretty simple, actually. Just remember that a tax lien is really a note receivable from the property owner (or the governement, depending on your state). And when you take the property, you really are foreclosing on the property and essentially buying the property at that time.

For more on tax liens, go to Chapter 21 in the Kiyosaki book, The Real Book of Real Estate.

Warmest regards,

Tom

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