[Leon]

Sounds no different than writing off property taxes as an expense on a rental property. Thank God for CPA's .

Originally Posted by BobC

As for the idea of getting a loan on ones cards, those are not cheap rates. If it truly is only for some temporary period of time, it isn't much different than going to a pawn shop, is it? However, having said that, they may actually be some tax advantages for such a loan.

If the cards are kept by you as a collector for investment purposes, the interest being paid could be deemed as "investment interest expense", which is allowable as an itemized deduction on Schedule A of your federal tax return, but only to the extent you have net investment income that same year. (Any excess, non-deductible investment interest expense in a given year can then be carried forward and deducted against net investment income in future years.) However, you would have to use the proceeds of any borrowing to purchase additional cards for investment purposes, as in the example of one poster who suggested buying a $1,000 card and then borrowing half that amount to go out and then buy a $500 card. You would also want to be sure to properly report the sales activity on your federal tax return for any such "collectibles" you had bought and sold then, and on which you claimed an investment interest deduction to purchase them with.

And if you're actually a dealer and in the business of selling cards, the interest expense in that case could be treated as a straight-up operating business deduction. Same thing as buying inventory on credit. You can write the interest expense off against you income from sales.