Tax Year Prior to 2020: Do the new 2018 tax laws, allow me to take an immediate deduction when I buy appliances like refrigerators, for my rental unit, instead of depreciating it over 5 years?

[Hal_Al]

Yes, you are allowed to do that, for items costing under $2500.  But that was not part of the 2018 new law.  That was allowed under  De Minimis Safe Harbor rules starting in  2016 (but unofficially allowed for 2015).

[Bestvalue888]

Hi, this is new to me and I also have a similar question that my contractor charged me a total of $1150 to put a new refrigerator for my tenant to replace the broken one ($1000 is the cost of the new refrigerator with receipt and $150 is labor charge).  Can I claim the total of $1150 as expense instead of depreciate over 5 years? Thanks 

[WKins2]

Unfortunately, you will need to claim the refrigerator as an asset and depreciate it over the useful life. You can take either section 179 deduction or bonus depreciation on the return, which might expense all of the refrigerator out for the tax year. 

TurboTax will assist you in deciding which will be better for you. 

[Bestvalue888]

Thanks for the reply but why this rule doesn’t apply to me as I think it meets the requirements, no? Just curious.