Tier 1: Statutory. Take them.

The Code says what it says; your only job is the filing mechanics.

The §121 exclusion

Up to $500,000 of principal-residence gain, tax-free, repeatable every two years (section “Selling Houses”). Watch the depreciation carve-out, the nonqualified-use proration, and the five-year clock on property acquired in a 1031.

The Augusta rule

Fourteen days of rental income that never touches your return ( IRC §280A(g)) — including rent paid by your own business at a documented market rate (section “Operational Deductions and Family Employment”).

Cost segregation plus bonus depreciation

Reclassify the short-life components and deduct them in year one (section “The Magic of Cost Segregation”). Pure acceleration, fully statutory; the only real risk is a junk study, so buy an engineering-based one.

Partial asset dispositions and the repair safe harbors

Write off what you tore out (section “Partial Asset Disposition (PAD) Election”) and expense what the elections let you expense (section “Repair or Improvement? Use the Safe Harbors”). A written policy and an election statement, nothing more.

The 1031 chain to a step-up

Defer indefinitely, die, and IRC §1014 erases both the gain and the recapture (section “Selling Houses”). Works only if you actually hold to death; exiting mid-chain pays everything you deferred.

Qualified nonrecourse financing

A bank mortgage counts as at-risk basis with no personal liability ( IRC §465(b)(6)) — the quiet rule that makes leveraged depreciation work at all (section “Real Estate Income Taxation”).

The Bolton allocation

Allocate a mixed-use home’s interest and taxes over 365 days rather than days of use (section “Personal Use of Rental Property”). Controlling law in the Ninth and Tenth Circuits; a disclosed, defensible position elsewhere.