Rental depreciation when rented on and off over time

[Jim202010]

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@Carl wrote:

For future travellers, it appears that having prior depreciation with an asset will trigger the Form 3115 questions

Is the program "forcing" you to file the 3115? Or can you opt out/bypass it with specific elections?

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I'm guessing.  Is there any way to find out why the 3115 is being triggered?

As you say, this is the first entry of all of this information.

[Jim202010]

I created a copy of the return and did a trial finalize and the 3115 just popped up as part of the error checking.

Stepping through errors went into the previously absent 3115.

There was no explanation as to why.

Ugh.

[Carl]

Looks to me like you're entering it wrong.

Enter it as a new rental property on the 2019 tax return. Make the in service date whatever date it was placed in service in 2019.

Then for your cost basis, subtract your total prior year's depreciation from the 2018 cost basis and enter that sum as your cost basis on the 2019 return. The land value will be "identical" to the land value on the 2018 return.

It's a trick to do this correctly  with the numbers from your 2018 Form 4562.

For the COST add together the amounts in the  Cost (Net of Land) and Land columns. From that total, subtract the total prior year's depreciation already taken. Enter that total in the COST box in TurboTax 2019.

Then enter the amount in the "Land" column, in the Cost of Land box in TurboTax 2019.

Now depreciation starts over for the next 27.5 years, beginning on your 2019 in service date.

There will be no prior year's depreciation shown, since you already subtracted it from the cost basis, and the current year depreciation figured by the program will be the correct amount for 2019.

[Jim202010]

Ok, that worked.  Phew.  And it goes all the way to e-file and I suppose it might fail in that last step.

Want to check some things over.

Thank you!

[Jim202010]

And the e-file got accepted!  Phew.

Many thanks to the community for the help!

[PatCS]

I have a similar situation.

I rented a vacation rental > 14 days 2006 - 2021 AND 2023 but only 14 days in 2022.  

The 2022 taxes did not need a Schedule E even though it was in service.

Is the same procedure appropriate?  It seems like it will give the correct numbers although it is not technically correct.  What do you recommend?