Can these be included as rental home expenses when I file taxes?

[hm13hm13]

We converted our previous primary residence into a rental property in May 2015. We did a few repairs prior to handing the home over to the property manager to list it as a rental. I'm curious if these can be included as expenses to claim on taxes...also a couple ongoing general items. Most of these things didn't bother us very much, but we figured tenant might complain about them so we fixed them before they moved in.

     -HOA Dues
     -Monthly family plan membership plan to HVAC company (they service systems 2x a year)

     -Carpets professionally cleaned
     -Replaced HVAC filters *
     -Replaced some light bulbs *
     -Repairs broken microwave handle *
     -Repaired a couple window screens *
     -Purchased a used refrigerator from craigslist since we took ours to our new home
     -Repaired part on dishwasher *

*Can you also include labor hours on any of these? Our Property manager had a handyman fix some sprinkler issues during the summer and it came out to a whopping $90 for parts and labor. I know the sprinkler parts did NOT account for most of that money!!

[DevoCPA]

All those are valid rental expenses, except the fridge will need to be capitalized and depreciated over 5yrs. Your issue is what date was the home converted to a rental property and were the repairs done after that date? If not, those repairs are not deductible. The home needed to be 'available for rent' before the repairs were done. 'Available for rent' has two criteria:

1. The earliest date that a renter could physically move into the house and begin living there from that day forward.

2. The date you started advertising the property for rent, provided the first criteria above matched that date.

[zephyr911]

All those are valid rental expenses, except the fridge will need to be capitalized and depreciated over 5yrs. Your issue is what date was the home converted to a rental property and were the repairs done after that date? If not, those repairs are not deductible. The home needed to be 'available for rent' before the repairs were done. 'Available for rent' has two criteria:

1. The earliest date that a renter could physically move into the house and begin living there from that day forward.

2. The date you started advertising the property for rent, provided the first criteria above matched that date.

Interesting finer point there. I would have thought the "in service" date could be set at the time when they moved out and decided to make it a rental, not when it was actually offered publicly. Learn something new every day.

If those items are not deductible, then can they be added to the basis?

[DevoCPA]

no only capital assets can be added to basis