What the IRS keeps from $150,000
Drag to your income. Dark is what the IRS keeps.
One return. Wages, gains, and rent taxed together.
Total federal tax on this split
If it all came as wages
You keep
Same $150,000. Three outcomes. Structure is the lever.
| W-2 wages | $150,000 |
|---|---|
| Federal income tax | |
| Social Security | |
| Medicare | |
| Additional Medicare | |
| Tax paid | |
| of income | You keep |
| Long-term capital gains | $150,000 |
| Capital gains tax (0% / 15% / 20%) | |
| Investment surtax (NIIT) | |
| Tax paid | |
| of income | You keep |
| Structured rental | $150,000 |
| Operating expenses (70⅓%) | |
| Cash left before tax | |
| Building depreciation | |
| Accelerated depreciation | |
| Taxable result | |
| Rental income tax and surtax | |
| Tax paid | |
| Paper loss, not a refund | Cash left |
Rental assumptions: 70⅓% expenses, $1M property, 20% land, 27.5-year depreciation, $60,000 acceleratedEdit
Standard deduction $16,100 · No other income · Federal only · 2026 tables
How the math worksShow
"All three ways" treats the full amount as your only income on three separate returns. "My real split" puts wages, gains, and rent on one return: wages and any rental profit share the standard deduction and the ordinary brackets, and long-term gains stack on top for the 0, 15, and 20 percent brackets. Single wage earner, under 65. Excludes state tax, AMT, credits, QBI and itemized deductions.
Rental: gross rent, minus operating expenses, minus straight-line building depreciation on the non-land part of the property, minus an accelerated first-year amount. The accelerated amount is a net increase above the standard baseline, not a cost-segregation study. A paper loss is shown as is. Whether it can be deducted now or carried forward depends on passive-activity, basis and at-risk rules, and this tool never uses it to offset wages. Purchase price, principal payments and sale taxes are excluded.
Tables: IRS 2026 · SSA · Rental rules
Illustrative educational model. Not a cost-seg study, not tax advice. Work with a CPA or EA for real numbers.