I've read those references. Put succinctly, and referencing back to my previous post, the original carpet in a new build (and a later replacement for that matter) can be treated as a capital expense. It is unclear how this would be different from window treatments. Given the choice, some would prefer walking around on a subfloor while have window coverings vs. having carpets but no privacy. There is no reason to prioritize one over the other.
As far as replacing carpeting (or anything else that can be treated as a capital expense), I find one web site saying if you replace carpet in an entire room the cost of the new can be included in the cost basis, but the cost of the previous carpet you installed is then to be eliminated from the basis. I find that to be intuitively sound thinking though not necessarily accurate because I'm not finding any IRS guidance in this regard. Taken literally, what the IRS seems to say in their sketchy guidance is that you can include both the old and new in cost basis even if you paid for both of them which is counterintuitive.
Lets say I buy a new build and pay a contractor $5,000 to put in a driveway. Twenty years later it is replaced at a cost of $8,000. If you take the IRS sketchy guidance literally my driveway cost basis is $13,000. Again, this is counterintuitive.
Referencing back to the New York State guidance, even something as simple as planting a shub and then replace that shrub, seems to allow for counting both shrubs in the cost basis.
The crux of that matter, independent of the particular item, is who bought the original capital expense item that is now being replaced, new build or otherwise. It seems the guidance is directed toward buying an existing home where everything is used and in various states of depreciation and that is reflected in the price as anyone would know who has priced new builds vs. existing. As far as this matter is concerned, does the IRS (or New York State for that matter) in fact differentiate between buying and replacing somebody else's depreciated item vs. replacing something you bought new, or do they just unintuitively not care?
