Taxes & Accounting
Deductions, basis, Schedule E, and staying audit-ready.
De Minimis Safe Harbor $2,500 — How Landlords Use It
The de minimis safe harbor lets landlords expense items under $2,500 per invoice instead of capitalizing them, cutting paperwork and lowering current-year taxes.
Converting Rental to Primary Residence — Tax Consequences
Moving into a former rental triggers a conversion event — depreciation recapture stays in play, nonqualified use reduces your §121 exclusion, and you stop depreciating the day you move in.
Converting Primary Home to Rental — Tax Effects & Basis Rules
Converting a primary residence to a rental triggers basis calculations, depreciation, and lookback rules that affect taxes at sale — conversion date records matter most.
Chart of Accounts for Landlords — A 4-Section Starter
A consistent chart of accounts makes Schedule E prep faster and gives you year-over-year trends at a glance — here's the four-section framework owner-operators use.
Casualty Loss Deduction for Rental Property — How Landlords File
Rental property casualty losses follow simpler rules than personal-use losses — no disaster declaration required, but documentation and the FMV test still matter.
Cash vs Accrual Accounting for Rentals — Which One?
Cash accounting records when money moves; accrual records when the obligation occurs — most individual landlords use cash, but the choice affects what appears on your return each year.
Capitalize vs Expense? A 4-Question Decision Tree for Landlords
A four-question decision tree turns the capitalize-or-expense decision from guesswork into a repeatable process backed by IRS rules.
Bonus Depreciation Rate Changed in 2025 — How to Verify Current Rules
Bonus depreciation returned to 100% for property acquired after Jan 19, 2025 — the TCJA phase-down no longer applies, but acquisition and placed-in-service dates still determine your rate.
What's the BAR Test? Betterment, Adaptation & Restoration
The BAR test—betterment, adaptation, restoration—determines when work becomes a capital improvement instead of a deductible repair for tax purposes.
Augusta Rule — Rent Your Home 14 Days Tax-Free
The Augusta rule lets you rent your personal home up to 14 days a year and keep the income tax-free — but eligibility and documentation requirements are strict.
What Auditors Ask — Your Rental Property Audit Trail Checklist
An IRS rental-property audit typically requests five categories of documents — bank statements, receipts, mileage logs, depreciation schedules, and capital-improvement records.
Rental Appliances Depreciate Over 5 Years — How MACRS Works
Rental appliances depreciate over 5 years under MACRS — a much shorter schedule than the building — letting you recover the cost faster.
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