bought a two family home 13 years ago 50/50 with in-law.
So what was rented out after the two of you purchased this property? One unit? Both Units?
Did either of you live in one of the units as your primary residence during the time you owned it together?
How did you each report rental income/expenses (assuming all or part was rented out) when you both owned it? A 1065 partnership return? Or did you each report your 50% on the SCH E of your personal tax returns?
Over a year ago a bought out his part of ownership and refinanced to pay him his share.
What year would that be? 2019? 2018? "Over a year ago" only tells me that it was some year prior to 2020.
I started renting the other apartment in the home sometime last year.
What was/is the status of both units? Is the "other" unit also a rental, and has always been a rental?
I need to know how do I calculate the depreciation?
With Turbotax, *you* don't figure the depreciation. The program does that "for you", depending on how you enter the data. But how you will enter the data, depends on how the "partnership" was dealt with before you bought out the partner of this endeavor.
Is it based on original cost basis and closing costs and starting from the time of rental (last year) for 27.5 years or based on the refinanced amount when I owned full ownership last year or so for the next 27.5 years?
Again, it depends on how things were treated and reported historically, as to "exactly" how you will deal with it going forward. Please feel free to provide a detailed history and we'll be happy to help you get this going.
Typically, the first year of dealing with rental property, or the first year of dealing with a change, can be the most challenging year. But absolute perfection in that first year is not an option. It's a must. Even the tiniest of mistakes will grow exponentially over time. Then when that mistake is caught later down the road (by you or the IRS) the cost of fixing it *will* be high.
So please, provide details of your history with this property, and I'll be happy to try and help. Also note that with the filing deadline approaching, you have absolutely no time to waste. You flat out can not afford to sacrifice accuracy for speed.
