Whether you are a homeowner or a real estate investor, there are tax laws out there that benefit you. You may leave it up to your tax service or accountant to do your taxes, but if you know the basic rules, you will be able to plan ahead and take advantage of these rules in ways that you might never have thought of.

Mortgage Interest

As a homeowner, you know your mortgage interest is tax-deductible. You receive your 1099 interest form from your lender and hand it over to your tax service at the end of the year. Want to bump that figure up a little without having a higher interest rate? Just pay your January mortgage late in December. You will be able to claim that month's interest a year in advance.

2 Out of 5 Rule

A huge advantage of owning a home is the tax exemption on profits up to $250,000 for singles and $500,000 for married couples. Most people think about this profit as retirement income when they downsize in 20 or 30 years. But by that time the rules might have changed or, if they haven't, your profit might exceed the exemption. If you have either the money to pay a contractor or the time for some do-it-yourself projects, you could profit from that exemption every couple of years. What other investment allows you to earn money tax-free? The tax rules allow this exemption to every homeowner who has lived in his house at least two out of the past five years. Another option is to move out in two years, buy a new house and keep the first one as an investment property for a few years before selling. This is an especially smart tactic in a poor but recovering market. You'll earn appreciation on two buildings at the same time.

Year End Improvements

If you are a real estate investor, you know you have both straight business expenses and depreciation. Depreciation spreads the cost of significant improvements over a long period of time and begins the day the improvement goes into service. Making a capital improvement in December is only going to get you one month's worth of depreciation during that tax year. But expenses for maintenance--for things like painting, floor refinishing and replacing window blinds--can be fully claimed in the year they are expended. So, if you know you will be doing some major expense-category work during the coming year, consider bumping it up to December of the current year. You can fully claim the expense the next month in your tax return.

1031 Exchange

If you buy and sell investment real estate, you would be foolish not to use a 1031 exchange. This process allows a real estate investor to sell a property at a profit without paying any tax on the profit so long as she reinvests the money coming out of the sale into another like-kind property. The time frames for identifying and purchasing the replacement property are strict, and an intermediary must hold the money during the interim. But you could potentially never pay taxes as long as the profits are always rolled into the next building when you sell. As an added bonus, you could refinance the replacement building right after you buy it and take cash out--again tax free.