Advantage/Disadvantage of buying a house and putting the title on an S Corp?

Question

What are the advantages and disadvantages of buying a house and putting the title on S-Corp to show as an S-corp asset and so all the expenses associated with the house can be written off as business expense. I am in California.

Mortgage will be on my SSN as my S-Corp does not have much credit history.

Answer 1

The advantage may be lower personal taxes until the IRS figures out what you are doing at which point they could disallow all of those deductions and assign them to your personal income. I would question your ability to finance the loan in you name and record the title in the name of the LLC. Most of these type arrangements work until the IRS has some reason to look at your circumstances. When that happens the better they have worked the harsher the reaction by the IRS. If you don't like jail don't do it!

Answer 2

You need an attorney for this. The advantages are that if you declare personal bankruptcy, the house is technically not yours to lose. The Bk court would probably find that distinction to be fictional though, so don't count on this. You also cannot assign all of the house expenses as business expenses unless you do not live there. The IRS busts people for this every day.

You also lose the homestead exemption if the house is not in your name. This exemption lowers your property taxes in most places. You may also run afoul of local zoning laws to run your business from a house. All in all, I don't recommend it.