Author Topic: Rental Expenses and Taxes  (Read 1706 times)

niknak

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Rental Expenses and Taxes
« on: December 04, 2014, 09:51:11 PM »
Starting in 2015 we'll be renting out a room in our house. This year we've already made some repairs to the house to prepare for tenants. Can we claim these expenses as a loss of rental income for the 2014 tax year even though we haven't rented anything yet?
« Last Edit: December 04, 2014, 10:10:54 PM by niknak »

GizmoTX

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Re: Rental Expenses and Taxes
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2014, 12:04:36 PM »
No. You must have income to deduct from, and there are additional rules for deducting costs that are part of your home.

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc414.html


brooklynguy

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Re: Rental Expenses and Taxes
« Reply #2 on: December 06, 2014, 06:27:26 PM »
You should determine whether the work you have done falls under the category of "repairs" or "improvements," which are treated differently for tax purposes.  Even if they are merely repairs, you may be able to deduct them next year as start-up expenses of your rental business.  This book provides a pretty good overview of tax deductions for landlord's if you are not familiar with the tax code.

 

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