Thanks all. This is what I found on the IRS site:
> You can deduct depreciation on the part of the house used for rental purposes as well as on the furniture and equipment you use for rental purposes.
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p527#en_US_2020_publink[phone number removed]
Based on this and what was said in the thread, I've done the following:
- Made the de minimus safe harbor election. I did this by saying I want to review my annual election questions and selecting "Yes" when it asked if I purchased items that were less than $2,500 and then I proceeded to follow the rest of the prompts.
- I added the items listed in the lease as miscellaneous expenses. I divided the cost of each item by 2 since only half of it is used for rental purposes. I do have a sofa which is over $2,500 but when divided by 2 is less than that.
Follow up question: What if I purchased an item in 2019, but did not use it until I moved into my home?
