So many people are of the mistaken (and wrong) belief that depreciation is a deduction they get forever. It is not. At some point all depreciation taken on any asset must be recaptured and you *will* pay taxes on that recaptured depreciation in the tax year it is recaptured. Depreciation recapture is required by law when any one of two things happens in your life.
1) You sell or otherwise transfer the property to another.
2) You die.
Additionally, in the tax year of recapture, that recaptured depreciation is added to your AGI and has the potential to put you into the next higher tax bracket - meaning that you could end up paying more in taxes, than the total amount your "saved" in taxes over all those years of depreciation.
Appliances are depreciated over 5 years. So listing out a $500 dishwasher as a separate appliance means you only get to deduct $100 a year. That will make absolutely not one penny of difference to your tax liability. If you elect to take the SDA (Special Depreciation Allowance) that allows you to deduct the entire cost in the first year the asset is placed in service, then it *might* make $5 of difference (if you're lucky) in that one year only. Big deal. Then when the appliance breaks and needs to be replaced, you've created $25 worth of your time and paperwork to "dispose" of that asset, to "maybe" save $5 on your taxes.
If *you* *personally* did not purchase the appliances and renovate the kitchen *AFTER* the closing date of the property, then you have absolutely no separate assets to list other than the rental property itself, which gets depreciated over 27.5 years. That's the law.
Your attempt to save nickles and dimes now, will cost you quite a few Jackson's and Grant's later.
