Depreciation

Members of the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants are answering readers' tax questions through April 15.Q: If you buy a personal computer and printer for your home based business, what kind of tax deduction or depreciation can you claim? What about software?A: If a computer and associated hardware are used exclusively in a qualified office in a residence (defined in code Sec. 280) and assuming business use is more than 50 percent, the taxpayer can depreciate the computer using the MACRS (Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System)

The Rouse Co. yesterday reported its earnings jumped more than 25 percent for both the third-quarter and nine-month periods, based primarily on rent and occupancy increases in the company's retail centers.The Columbia-based development firm generated earnings before depreciation and deferred taxes of $25.7 million, a 26 percent increase from the $20.4 million reported in the period ended Sept. 30, 1993.Rouse and other real estate companies report earnings before depreciation and deferred taxes because the figures better reflect the specific nature of their industry.

Better results at shopping malls pushed The Rouse Co.'s key earnings measure up 26 percent during the second quarter.Columbia-based Rouse said it earned $21.2 million during the quarter that ended June 30, excluding allowances for depreciation of its real estate assets and deferred taxes. The company earned $16.8 million by the same measure in the second quarter of 1993.Real estate companies typically rely on cash flow, or earnings before depreciation and taxes, rather than the net income measure used by other companies, because accounting rules for net income distort real estate results by requiring companies to write down the value of their assets.

Why don't regular people like classical music? This is the question that was posed to me recently in a lettgr from Timothy W. Muffitt, the music director of the University of Texas Symphony Orchestra, which has gained international acclaim for its rendition of "Achy Breaky Heart."No, I'm sure it's a fine orchestra that plays a serious program of classical music featuring numerous notes, sharps, flats, clefts, bassoons, deceased audience members, etc.Anyway, Mr. Muffitt states that he has been asked to conduct a series of concerts for the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra next fall; the goal is "to get people into the concert hall other than those who usually come."

The Rouse Co. of Columbia said yesterday its operating profits rose 50 percent in 1993, thanks largely to refinancing of debt and better-than-average occupancy at the company's shopping malls.Rouse said its earnings before depreciation and deferred taxes were $78.3 million, up from $52.3 million in 1992. In the fourth quarter, Rouse earned $25.2 million before depreciation and deferred taxes, up from $20.6 million in 1992's last three months.Like many real estate investment-oriented companies, Rouse posted net losses for the year and for the quarter.

The Rouse Co. turned in a surprisingly strong first-quarter earnings report yesterday, saying operating profits from its existing retail centers and office buildings rose, thanks largely to a 29 percent boost in profits from shopping centers."

The Rouse Co., a Columbia-based real estate development company, said yesterday that Anthony W. Deering, 48, was appointed president and chief operating officer, putting him in line for the company's top job."Under normal circumstances, it is expected that the chief operatingofficer will become the chief executive officer in due course," said Mathias J. DeVito, chairman and chief executive of Rouse.Rouse, the nation's largest publicly held development company, also reported yesterday that earnings before depreciation and deferred taxes increased 14.1 percent, to $20.6 million, in the fourth quarter, compared with the year-earlier period.

The Rouse Co. released figures showing that its third-quarter earnings before depreciation and deferred taxes from operations were down 24.7 percent from the same period a year before, although revenues were up 7.5 percent.For the first three quarters of the year, the real estate development company's earnings before depreciation and deferred taxes were $28,732,000, down 8.2 percent from the $31,307,000 figure recorded in the first three quarters of 1990.The net loss for the first nine months of 1991 was $12,579,000, compared with a net loss of $3,258,000 for the first nine months of last year.

The Rouse Co. of Columbia released its interim report to shareholders for the second quarter of 1991.Total earnings for the first half of 1991 before depreciation and deferred taxes were $19,761,000, 2 percent more than the $19,388,000 recorded in the first half of last year.For the second quarter, earnings before depreciation and deferredtaxes were $9,075,000, a 6-percent increase over $8,544,000 in 1990'ssecond quarter -- April through June.The net loss for the six months was $8,462,000, compared to a net loss of $3,965,000 in the first half of 1990.