Adjusted Gross Income (AGI)

Definition of "Adjusted Gross Income (AGI)"

Dale Tomalewski  real estate agent

Written by

Dale Tomalewski elite badge icon

Coldwell Banker Real Estate Services Inc.

We all know what income is or what gross income means, but what is adjusted gross income? When a company calculates its income to determine their taxable income, they take the gross income to measure their adjusted gross income (AGI). The AGI is where the calculations begin for a taxpayer’s tax bill and the baseline for most deductions and credits. When a taxpayer files their taxes online, the software will calculate their AGI for them. 

The adjusted gross income measure of calculation is used to calculate a filer’s tax liability. In active participation, an AGI can make an active participant investor in real estate eligible or not for deductions and influences the claims for deductions and credits.

What does Adjusted Gross Income Mean?

To simplify it, an adjusted gross income is the gross income modified in the tax code. While gross income is the money earned during a year (salary, capital gains, dividends, interest income, alimony, rental income, royalties, and retirement distributions), the AGI considers allowed deductions from the gross income to determine the figure the income tax liability is calculated.

For tax activities, the most useful measure of calculation is the AGI, as deductions are taken out of the gross income. Those deductions are known as adjustments to an individual’s income.

How to calculate Adjusted Gross Income?

The start of the adjusted gross income calculation starts with adding all sources of income from that year. Here we’ll have salaries, profit from a property sale, pensions, unemployment compensations, Social Security payments, or other income types that weren’t reported in the tax returns. From this, the taxpayer subtracts allowed deductions and payments. That leaves a taxpayer with their adjusted gross income.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

In our world, you can request anyone to perform virtually any task for a little (or bigger) incentive. So, what is the definition of incentive precisely? An incentive can be a service or ...

When you hear the term annuity, you’re often left wondering what is an annuity? The simplest annuity definition is a financial product designed to ensure cash flows at equal intervals ...

Insulating material attached to crevices around doors and windows to prevent air from either entering or escaping from a structure. Tacked, stapled, or glued onto the surfaces of the doors ...

mortgage being reduced through periodic principal and interest payments. ...

Losses arising from damage to or destruction of property. ...

Creates a lien against the mortgagor's property, but does not permit a lien against his or her personal assets. See also non recourse. ...

Created by law usually for the right to travel to landlocked parcel of land ...

Certificate usually granted by a jurisdictions building department certifying a specified premise has satisfactorily complied with all zoning and building ordinances. This certification is ...

Unexpected increase in the price of property not due to any effort on the owner's part. An example is when the appraised value of a house increases because of a population increase in the ...

Popular Real Estate Questions