Carl
Level 15

Investors & landlords

We had it moved to a city lot which we bought for that purpose in another town, and it will be a rental as soon as it is ready.

Nothing is directly deductible per-se. But you do have some major changes in the cost basis when it comes to renting it out, for depreciation.

For your cost basis, that will be what you paid for the lot, plus the value you assigned to the structure the last time you rented it, minus any depreciation already taken on it before the move, plus the cost of moving it, plus the cost of the property improvements you did after it was in the new location. If applicable, you'll also include in your cost basis whatever you paid (if anything) for prepping the land with a foundation (slab, risers or stilts) for the house to sit on at the new location, as well as any costs to get utilities such as electric, water and sewer installed from the street, into the structure. If you did any landscaping such as sod, trees,shrubs or plants next to the house, that cost is also added to the cost basis.

For the purpose of depreciation, the depreciable portion of the new cost basis will be that cost basis, minus what you paid for the land it now sits on. Depreciation will start over from year 1 for the next 27.5 years using your newly established cost basis.

You will need to keep your own records of previous depreciation taken on the property. In your specific case, I don't know if you will need that information or not in the future when/if you sell or otherwise dispose of the property. I'm not sure, but if you sold the land the house used to be on, that may have an impact on future requirements when you sell the house at it's new location. I just don't know how that will work out. But it's something you may want to research later once things are "settled in" with the new setup.