In the on-line "Premier" version, I do not find an easy user interface for adding the various type expenses incurred prior to putting a new rental business into service. However, viewing the Youtube video "Episode 2 - Start Up Costs" by "The Life Of a Digi-Preneur," it appears TurboTax has added a good user interface to the "Self-Employed" version. My guess, with the "Premier" version, expenses prior to placing a new rental business into service, requires splitting my expenses into two buckets:
(1) Capital expenses (e.g., improvements)) and
(2) Op Expenses (e.g., utilities, repairs, maintenance, and travel).
The capital expenses under (1) could be added to the buildings cost basis and
the less than $50K operational expenses classified under (2) could be split to:
(a) $5K which would be entered as a deductable expense and
(b) the remainder be classified as an Asset and amortized over 180 months.
Bottomline, I would appreciate recommendations with respect to: (i) the better version of TurboTax to use for landlords filing a new rental business (i.e., Premier or Self-Employed) and (ii) any feedback as to whether the process is summarized correctly for adding "pre-In Service date" expenses into the Premier version.
Noteworthy with the presumed process outlined above for filing Startup costs with the Premier version, there is not an opportunity for the software to check for any types of accelerated depreciation on new assets added during the "Start-up" period, as they are added directly to the basis of the building and depreciated over 27.5 years.
