The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Real Estate and Landlording => Topic started by: hm13hm13 on January 13, 2016, 08:47:13 AM
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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!!
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Yes; you can deduct expenses related to preparing the home for rental use. Assuming you were already out and got no personal use out of the items. Parts and labor paid to a third party are deductible. If you did the work yourself, you cannot deduct the cost of your own time.
Depending on the cost, you may need to capitalize the refrigerator as an asset rather than expense. The new repair regs list the safe harbor amount you can deduct before it requires more scrutiny. If it was used off Craigslist, it is probably under that threshold.
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Jim is 100% correct on all counts. Heed his words. :D
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You might want to go to the IRS site and download a Schedule E and the instruction.
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Depending on the cost, you may need to capitalize the refrigerator as an asset rather than expense. The new repair regs list the safe harbor amount you can deduct before it requires more scrutiny. If it was used off Craigslist, it is probably under that threshold.
The new de minimis safe harbor (for immediate deduction rather than capitalization) is $2500. Heckuva a fridge if it costs more than that.
https://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Tangible-Property-Final-Regulations#Ademinimis
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Did you travel to the rental after you moved into your new place? Deduct the travel and 50% meals when working on the rental.
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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!!
You can deduct any legitimate expense for your rental property. I always keep the receipts in case I get audited. I only have one question. If the HVAC company only services that home, you can deduct the full amount. If they also service your primary home, you would divide the cost by 2 and only deduct half of that expense.