I follow the logic here, however not keen on converting back and forth to personal use and amending returns unless I absolutely have to. I know I can add the "renovation cost" which would include the associated carrying costs (not an accountant but rather a finance guy, so excuse my terminology), meaning utilities, interest paid during the renovation, property taxes etc., as a new asset that is depreciated over 27.5 years at the time when the renovation is completed. The only challenge with doing that is depreciation as it is a non-cash expense. Why can't I just delete my previous depreciation schedule effective the date the renovation started (thereby discontinuing the depreciation expense for the renovation period), and either start re-amortizing the remaining un-depreciated balance at the time the renovation is complete over 27.5 years (I know this way I will be "losing" a marginal amount of depreciation per year as a result of re-amortizing the net amount over the full 27.5 years again) or "put the depreciation on hold" and "re-start" depreciating the acquired asset and the prior annual depreciation amount when the property is available for rent again? It sounded like your answer had more to deal with the limitations of the TurboTax system rather than the most practical way to do this? I am no tax expert, just trying to think about this logically (not always applicable when it comes to the government, I know). Thanks again for your feedback.
