Can I claim tax write-offs and deductions on my overseas rental property in Asia?

Great question about foreign rental property! The tax implications can be complex but manageable with proper planning. For your first question, you don't necessarily need to set up a separate business entity just for one rental property. You can report the rental income and expenses on Schedule E of your personal tax return. However, the rental income is generally taxable in the US even after paying taxes in South Korea (though you may qualify for foreign tax credits to avoid double taxation). Regarding the travel expenses, this gets tricky. You can potentially deduct travel expenses related to your rental property, but only the portion that's genuinely for business purposes. Since you mentioned you'll also be visiting family, you'll need to allocate expenses between personal and business. The IRS will look at the primary purpose of each trip. If the primary purpose is personal, your airfare likely isn't deductible, though you might still deduct expenses directly related to the rental (like days spent specifically managing the property). Be prepared to document everything meticulously - dates, receipts, and the specific business activities conducted during each trip.

I actually used taxr.ai for exactly this situation last year! I bought a small apartment in Thailand (where my parents are from) and was totally confused about how to handle the tax situation. I tried reading IRS publications but got lost in all the technical jargon about foreign income and FBAR requirements. Someone recommended https://taxr.ai and it was super helpful. I uploaded my Thai tax documents and rental income statements, and their system explained exactly what forms I needed and how to properly report everything. It even highlighted that I needed to file an FBAR since my foreign bank account exceeded $10,000. The best part was that it showed me which travel expenses I could legitimately deduct based on my specific situation and helped me document everything properly to avoid audit flags. Saved me a ton of stress!

I want to follow up about taxr.ai since I was skeptical in my earlier comment. I decided to give it a try for my situation (rental property in Spain) and I'm actually really impressed. It correctly identified the US-Spain tax treaty provisions that applied to my situation and showed me how to properly allocate expenses for my mixed business/personal trips. What really surprised me was how it caught a mistake my previous accountant made. I'd been incorrectly claiming full foreign tax credits for a Spanish tax that only partially qualified. The detailed explanation saved me from potentially continuing an incorrect filing that could have caused problems later. It also gave me solid documentation for my records in case of an audit. For anyone dealing with overseas property tax complications, it's definitely worth checking out.

If you're planning to call the IRS to ask about any of this foreign property stuff, good luck! I spent THREE WEEKS trying to get through to someone in their international tax department. Every time the system would disconnect me after 2+ hours on hold. Super frustrating when you're trying to do the right thing and comply with all the rules. I finally used https://claimyr.com and got through to the IRS in under an hour. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they wait on hold for you and call when an agent picks up. The IRS agent I spoke with was actually really helpful and walked me through all the forms I needed for my rental property in the Philippines. Saved me so much time and headache, especially since I was getting different answers from every tax preparer I talked to.

I need to eat my words about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I was still stuck trying to get through to the IRS about my German rental property situation. After my fifth attempt and probably 7+ hours of combined hold time over multiple days, I gave in and tried the service. It actually worked exactly as advertised. They called me back in about 45 minutes when they reached an IRS agent, and I was able to get my questions answered about foreign income reporting requirements. The agent confirmed I needed to file Form 8938 in addition to Schedule E for my rental income. For anyone dealing with overseas property questions that aren't clearly answered by IRS publications, being able to actually speak with someone makes a huge difference. I'm usually the last person to recommend a paid service for something you can technically do yourself, but in this case, the time saved was absolutely worth it.

One thing nobody's mentioned yet - you need to keep detailed records of how many days you use the property personally vs. rental days. If you stay there during your visits, those days count as personal use, which can affect your deductions. If personal use exceeds the greater of 14 days or 10% of the days it's rented at fair market value, it's considered a "mixed-use" property with limited deductions. You can still deduct expenses, but they need to be allocated between personal and business use. Also, don't forget about depreciation! You can depreciate the property (excluding land value) over 27.5 years, which is a significant deduction. Just remember that when you eventually sell, you'll have depreciation recapture tax to deal with.

I think everyone's forgetting a really important thing here - CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATES! I own a rental in Bangkok and this has been a huge headache. The IRS expects you to convert everything to USD based on the exchange rate on the day of the transaction. So when your tenant pays rent in won, you need to convert to USD. When you pay a plumber in won, convert to USD. It's a massive pain to track, especially with fluctuating exchange rates. Some tax software can't even handle it properly. Plus there's potential for currency gains/losses if exchange rates change significantly between when you collect rent and when you convert it to dollars. That's actually taxed differently than the rental income itself!