briheller

Tech Lawyer. Dad. Husband. Jokester.
Author of Top 10 Contract Law Blog:

[briheller @briheller]

If you review, negotiate or sign contracts as part of your job, you need to read this: https://t.co/K91D6FL1dG.

[briheller @briheller]

Indemnity & Limitations on Liability for Dummies (and smart people too)

https://t.co/g0rZs5GX8t

[briheller @briheller]

Data licensing agreement contract playbook

https://t.co/sjZGgN31EC

[briheller @briheller]

Let me review your contracts so you don't have to.
Contact me at [email protected]

[briheller @briheller]

DPA (Data Processing/Privacy Addendum/Agreement) Playbook. 10 issues to look out for.

https://t.co/xZcmCN0NZD

[briheller @briheller]

My recent blog post. Social Media Influencer Contract playbook and checklist. https://t.co/h4CKFj8rOV.

[briheller @briheller]

free video on demand webinar: "Navigating SaaS Contracts in the Age of AI (Latest Trends)".

https://t.co/3QIY1g7izU.

[briheller @briheller]

See you all at #Sleuthcon tomorrow

[Thomas Roccia 🤘 @fr0gger_]

🤓 On Friday I will have the honor to present the keynote at @SLEUTHCON! Come say hi if you are around!

[Information Technology and Innovation Foundation @ITIFdc]

📣 We're excited to welcome former Virginia Delegate Michelle Lopes Maldonado to the ITIF team as Associate Director of AI Policy!

Michelle brings expertise in AI governance, data privacy, online safety, & emerging tech from government, law, & industry.

[briheller @briheller]

@ESPNCleveland @RapSheet A win-win for both sides

[Khusboo Tayal @KhusbooT14835]

I Cancelled Spotify.
I cancelled Disney+.
I cancelled Apple TV+.

No more paying every month.

Claude transformed my laptop into a free entertainment center.

Here are 8 prompts to create this system:

[Elyra Future Tech @TechElyra]

I ACCIDENTALLY UNLOCKED "GOD MODE" IN CHATGPT,

AND IT STARTED TEACHING ME THINGS I DIDN'T KNEW EXISTED.

HERE ARE THOSE 7 CHATGPT PROMPTS THAT WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING FOR YOU:

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

The physics of what's happening in that 0.1 seconds of contact should bother you.

Those tires are completely stationary when they hit the ground. The plane is moving at 250 km/h. For the first fraction of a second, the rubber isn't rolling. It's skidding. Pure friction has to accelerate 22 wheels, each weighing 120 kg, from zero to 155 mph in roughly a tenth of a second.

The tread surface goes from -50°C at cruising altitude to over 200°C at the moment of contact. A 250-degree temperature swing in 0.1 seconds. The smoke you see at every commercial landing is rubber vaporizing off the tire surface. Studies at Manchester and Heathrow found that tire smoke at touchdown produces a greater magnitude of particulate emissions than the jet engines themselves.

The tires are inflated to 200 PSI, six times your car's tire pressure, and they're filled with nitrogen instead of air. Regular air contains moisture that would flash to steam and oxygen that could combust at those friction temperatures. Nitrogen eliminates both risks.

Each tire costs $5,500 and lasts about 250 landings before replacement. The A380 carries 22 of them. At max landing weight, those 22 contact patches are distributing 391 metric tons across roughly 15 square feet of rubber. That's 57,000 pounds per square foot.

The reason they don't pre-spin the wheels before landing, which would eliminate the skid and save millions in tire wear, is weight. Adding electric motors to 22 wheels increases fuel burn on every single flight. The math says it's cheaper to vaporize rubber 250 times and buy new tires than to carry the motors.

[hunter @hxxntrr]

There's a federal tax law that lets you rent your own house to your own business for $5,000 a day

The business deducts the rent as an expense
You receive the rent personally as tax-free income
This is fully legal under IRC Section 280A(g) and every smart business owner in america uses it

It's called the Augusta Rule and 90% of business owners have never heard of it

Internal Revenue Code Section 280A(g), commonly called the "Augusta Rule," allows a homeowner to rent their personal residence for up to 14 days per year and receive the rental income completely tax-free. The rental income does not need to be reported as income on your personal tax return

The provision was originally written to protect homeowners in Augusta, Georgia who rent their homes to spectators during the annual Masters Tournament. The IRS recognized that 14 days a year of rental income shouldn't trigger reporting requirements for an otherwise personal residence. The rule applies nationwide to anyone who rents their residence under 14 days

Critical mechanic for business owners:

If you own a business (LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp), the business can rent your personal residence for meetings, events, retreats, or any legitimate business purpose. The business pays you market-rate rent. The business deducts the rent as a business expense (reducing the business's taxable income). You receive the rent personally tax-free under Section 280A(g)

Result:

Business's taxable income: reduced by the amount of rent paid
Your personal taxable income: not increased (rent under Section 280A(g))
Net effect: cash moves from business to your personal account, fully tax-deductible on one side and fully tax-free on the other

This is a tax-arbitrage between the business entity and the individual that the tax code explicitly permits

The math:

Suppose your business is an S-Corp with $300,000 in annual taxable income. Your business is taxed at the corporate level (or flows through to you at personal rates depending on structure)

Without the Augusta Rule: business pays roughly $90,000-$120,000 in combined taxes on the $300K (depending on state and structure)

With the Augusta Rule: business rents your home for 14 days at $2,500/day = $35,000 in rent

Business taxable income reduces from $300,000 to $265,000
Tax savings on the $35,000 expense: roughly $10,500-$14,000 (at 30-40% effective business tax rate)
Personal income from $35,000 rent received: $0 (tax-free under 280A(g))

Net effect: $10,500-$14,000 in actual cash savings per year, just for renting your own house to your own business for 14 days

What is "market rate" rent:

The IRS requires the rental to be at a "fair market rate" for similar properties in your area. You can't rent your $400K home for $50,000/day. You also don't need to charge $200/day for a $2M property

Realistic market rates for short-term residential business rentals:

Modest home (under $400K): $400-$800/day
Mid-range home ($400K-$1M): $1,000-$2,500/day
Luxury home ($1M-$3M): $2,500-$5,000/day
High-end estate ($3M+): $5,000-$15,000+/day

You're typically renting your home for "executive retreats," "client meetings," "strategic planning sessions," "board meetings," etc. Market rate is what similar properties would charge as event venues or short-term executive rentals

How to support the market rate:

Get 3-5 comparable rental quotes from event venues, AirBnB executive rentals, or boutique meeting spaces in your area
Document the comparable rates in your business records
Use the median or 75th percentile rate, not the highest

If you can document that comparable executive retreat venues in your area rent for $3,000-$5,000/day, charging $3,500/day to your business is defensible

The execution:

Step 1: write a rental agreement between your business and you personally

The agreement should specify:
Dates of the rental (14 specific days per year max)
Rental rate per day
Purpose of the rental (business meeting, retreat, client event, strategic planning, etc.)
Standard rental terms (similar to commercial rental agreements)

Step 2: have a legitimate business purpose for each day of rental

Quarterly executive retreats (4 days/yr)
Annual strategic planning summit (3 days/yr)
Client appreciation event (2 days/yr)
Board meetings (3 days/yr)
Investor presentations (2 days/yr)
= 14 days/yr at $3,000/day = $42,000 in tax-free transfer

Step 3: document the business purpose with meeting minutes, agendas, attendee lists, and photos

Step 4: the business issues a 1099-MISC to you for the rental at year-end

Step 5: you report the rental on Schedule E of your personal tax return, then claim the Section 280A(g) exclusion (under 14 days = $0 reportable income)

Step 6: the business deducts the rent as an expense on the business tax return

Documentation requirements:

The IRS occasionally audits Augusta Rule claims because some taxpayers abuse the provision (renting at inflated rates, claiming days without legitimate business purpose, etc.). To survive audit:

Maintain calendar evidence of the 14 days
Maintain meeting agendas and minutes
Maintain attendee lists (employees, contractors, clients)
Maintain photos of the events
Have a written rental agreement
Have documentation of market rates

If you can produce all of this, the IRS audit defense is straightforward

The tax savings at scale:

Small business with $200K profit, rents at $1,500/day for 14 days:
Annual rent: $21,000
Tax savings at 35% effective rate: $7,350
Tax-free personal income: $21,000

Mid-size business with $500K profit, rents at $3,000/day for 14 days:
Annual rent: $42,000
Tax savings at 40% effective rate: $16,800
Tax-free personal income: $42,000

Large business with $2M profit, rents at $5,000/day for 14 days:
Annual rent: $70,000
Tax savings at 45% effective rate: $31,500
Tax-free personal income: $70,000

The savings scale linearly with the business size up to the 14-day limit. At the $5,000/day rate for 14 days ($70K), most business owners hit the practical ceiling

Compounding effect over time:

Using the Augusta Rule every year for 20 years on a mid-size business:
Annual tax savings: $16,800
Total over 20 years: $336,000

The Augusta Rule alone produces a third of a million dollars in extra wealth over a 20-year career for a single business owner

Other tax provisions stack with this:

Section 179: immediate expensing of equipment and vehicles purchased (up to $1.16M in 2024)
Bonus depreciation: 60-100% accelerated depreciation on assets
QBI deduction (Section 199A): 20% deduction on qualified business income
Section 121 home sale exclusion: $250K-$500K of profit on personal residence sale, tax-free
Health Savings Account: $4,150-$8,300 in pre-tax contributions, grows tax-free, withdrawn tax-free for medical

A business owner stacking all these provisions properly pays an effective tax rate of 12-18%. The same business owner without sophistication pays 28-35%

The difference is roughly $40K-$80K per year in saved tax. Over a 30-year career: $1.2M-$2.4M in extra net worth

The Augusta Rule is just one of about a dozen highly-leveraged tax provisions that ordinary tax filers never hear about because they're operating in W-2 reality. Every business owner with sophistication uses these provisions. Their accountants know about them. Their tax attorneys know about them. The IRS published them in the tax code

The middle-class American working a W-2 job has access to ZERO of these provisions. The W-2 employee can deduct standard items (mortgage interest, charitable giving, state and local taxes) but cannot:

Deduct vehicle expenses (no Section 179)
Deduct rental income from personal residence to employer (no 280A(g))
Get QBI deduction (W-2 income doesn't qualify)
Deduct home office (since 2017 W-2 employees lost this)
Strategic planning of capital gains (income is fixed by employer)

Almost everything that lets the wealthy reduce taxes requires you to be a business owner (or capital owner). The W-2 path categorically excludes you from the entire tax optimization layer

This is by design. The tax code rewards capital, business ownership, and asset accumulation. It punishes labor. The reward is approximately 20-30% lower effective tax rates for business owners using sophisticated strategies vs W-2 earners

The Augusta Rule is one of the simplest, lowest-effort tax savings available. Cost to implement: zero (if you already own a home and run a business). Time: maybe 4 hours per year for documentation. Annual savings: $7,000-$31,500

Most American business owners don't use the Augusta Rule. They don't know it exists. Their accountants might mention it once but never set up the structure. The provision sits in the tax code from 1976 waiting for someone to invoke it

You can be that someone. You need a home, a business, and 4 hours of paperwork per year

(if you want to fix your credit and qualify for the 0% APR business credit that helps you build the business that uses the Augusta Rule. link in bio)

[briheller @briheller]

@WeAreCavsNation 5%

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@CLEsportsTalk Pat Riley? ;)

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@softtail65 Squeeze

[Hoops @Hoopss]

The Cavs are reportedly exploring a massive offseason move, with interest in both trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo and potentially bringing LeBron James back to Cleveland.