@mgranp wrote:
Thank you all for the response. This has been very helpful so far. I am new to this and have some more follow up questions.
1. I do not have a company. Me and my wife have W2 jobs and we have the rental property that we manage. Can we still issue a W-2.
2. What is the smoothest way to issue a W-2. Can we use Intuit to do this, or should we go with a payroll processing company.
As a schedule E landlord, you can hire someone to help manage the property, either as a contractor or as a W-2 employee, this becomes one of your rental expenses. To hire W-2 employees, your business must have a federal EIN (employer identification number), you can get one online at the IRS web site.
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/apply-for-an-employer-identification-n...
Whether or not you can handle the various regulations about hiring employees that may apply in your state (plus the exceptions for hiring family) depends on how much time you want to take to learn all the rules, versus the money it would cost to have an accountant do it for you. Turbotax home&business (desktop) or Turbotax self-employed (online) can prepare W-2s for employees, but you may have other obligations. I would really suggest consulting an accountant, at least in the first year,.
