PatriciaV
Employee Tax Expert

Investors & landlords

According to IRS Pub 946 Depreciation of Property, solar panels are depreciated over five years. using the double-declining balance method.

 

In TurboTax, you can choose "Computer, Video, Photo, etc." as the type of asset so you report a 5-year class life.

 

You can also enter this manually as an "other asset type":

  1. Because solar installations are not common, you may need to enter this as "Intangibles, Other property" for the asset category and "other asset type."
  2. Enter your original purchase price for cost and the date it was placed in service.
  3. Show that you purchased this asset and enter the percentage of business use.
  4. Enter the date the property was first used as a rental.
  5. Choose 5.0 year asset class life, half-year convention, and with 200% declining balance depreciation method.
  6. It is not "listed property."
  7. Enter the amount of Section 179 deduction, if you claimed that in the first year.
  8. Enter the amount of depreciation you claimed last year, if any, including special depreciation.
  9. If necessary, click the "show details" box so you can confirm your entries are what you expect. 
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