What you pay for residentail rental real estate is not deductible. The cost is capitalized and depreciated over 27.5 years.
Start in the Rental & Royalty Income (SCH E) section of the program and work it through. Make sure you read the small print on every single screen before you enter data or make selections. Otherwise, I can guarantee you will make mistakes that will cost dearly in the future.
Perfection in that first year of dealing wtih rental property is not an option. It's an absolute must. Even the tiniest of mistakes will grow exponentially over time. THen when you catch the error years down the road, the cost of fixing it will be high.
Rental Property Dates & Numbers That Matter.
Date of Conversion - If this was your primary residence or 2nd home before, then this date is the day AFTER you moved out, or the date you decided to lease the property – whichever is later.
In Service Date - This is the date a renter "could" have moved in. Usually, this date is the day you put the FOR RENT sign in the front yard.
Number of days Rented - the day count for this starts from the first day a renter "could" have moved in. That should be your "in service" date if you were asked for that. Vacant periods between renters count also PROVIDED you did not live in the house for one single day for any type of personal pleasure use during said period of vacancy.
Days of Personal Use - This number will be a big fat ZERO. Read the screen. It's asking for the number of days you lived in the property AFTER you converted it to a rental. I seriously doubt (though it is possible) that you lived in the house (or space, if renting a part of your home) as your primary residence, 2nd home, or any other personal use reasons after you converted it to a rental.
Business Use Percentage. 100%. I'll put that in words so there's no doubt I didn't make a typo here. One Hundred Percent. After you converted this property or space to rental use, it was one hundred percent business use. What you used it for prior to the date of conversion doesn't count.
