Jeff Hiatt serves as Director of Business Development for MS Consultants, LLC. With a full-time staff of cost segregation experts and CPAs, MS Consultants’ expertise lies in cost segregation studies. An important element of Jeff Hiatt’s career has been assisting property owners with their cost segregation needs. Jeff Hiatt and MS Consultants have completed more than 6,000 cost segregation studies throughout 40 states. Last year they performed studies on over $1 billion of real estate. Their work reduced tax liabilities by over $400 million.

Since 1996, the IRS has allowed the use of cost segregation to increase tax write-offs for those who have built, purchased, remodeled, or expanded their properties. Utilization of cost segregation reduces the depreciable life of eligible property. Accelerated depreciation allows greater write offs for the first fifteen years after purchase or completion of construction.

Cost segregation involves separating personal property (shorter depreciable life) from the real property (longer depreciable life). Personal property includes a building’s nonstructural elements, exterior land improvements, and indirect construction costs. The real property is generally categorized as the structural framework of the building.

As a leading independent provider of cost segregation studies, MS Consultants has been performing cost segregation studies since 1996. The process for a cost segregation study begins when someone contacts MS Consultants and sends any available documentation regarding the property. Blueprints, invoices, and other building plans are often used but not required. Next, MS Consultants will schedule a site visit and their cost segregation experts will inspect the property. Their cost segregation staff has expertise in understanding the complexities of commercial real estate and how the tax code applies to both real and personal property. This knowledge helps the owner of the building maximize the results of the study.

Based on rigorous IRS standards, the engineering analysis will be completed after three to eight weeks. Cost segregation experts will report the results of the study to the client’s CPA. MS Consultants even helps the client’s CPA file the necessary tax documentation. If needed, this would include form 3115. 3115s allow the owner to step back in time to capture previously missed depreciation opportunities.

All types of buildings and businesses are eligible to use cost segregation studies to enhance the benefits of owning commercial property. Examples of property types include airport hangers, apartment buildings, grocery stories, nursing homes, office buildings, retail plazas, gas stations, and all types of restaurants.