How do i get bonus depreciation for a rental property? There is the 100% depreciation. Turbo tax did the 27.5 years by defaul.

[MindyB]

You'll need to break out the items that have shorter lives than the building. When you are on the page "Here's the rental property info", select add expense or asset and choose Improvements, furnishings, and other assets. Start the interview regarding the improvements and indicate that yes, you made improvements in 2025. Continue through the interview to enter the information about the improvements. 

Note that Forms 4562 attached to Schedule E are currently being updated. 

Here, you can sign up for an e-mail to stay current on the updates: Sign up for email notification

[taxmodern]

Bonus depreciation can only be used for assets that have a depreciation life of 20 years or less.   Your rental property is going to be mostly or entirely a 27.5 year asset (or 39 years if it's a short-term rental), so unfortunately it doesn't qualify for bonus depreciation. 

You may have some assets that do qualify for bonus depreciation, such as appliances and furniture which are both 5 year depreciation class items, and those would qualify for bonus depreciation.  If you enter those items as separate assets in TurboTax with the correct category, TurboTax will let you take that bonus depreciation. 

It's worth mentioning that your rental property that you are depreciating over 27.5 or 39 years may have some components that could be depreciated faster, such as some types of flooring, some types of fixtures, certain cabinets, a driveway, etc, that could instead be depreciated over 5-15 years (and so those components would qualify for bonus depreciation).  The best way to determine the entire scope of assets that are part of your building that you could depreciate faster is to have a cost segregation study done on the property using a company that provides that service.  

[ritchie-bains]

Thanks. This makes sense. How would I go about completing the 3115? It turns out it’s not available in turbo tax online. do I need to do my taxes on TurboTax desktop? And then file by mail? Can I mail in form 3115 separate and e-file my tax return?

[ritchie-bains]

I put my rental property in service February 2024. I wanna take the bonus appreciation at 60%. This purchase was made in 2019 for the rental property. I need to change my accounting method. For this I need to file form 3115, which only appears to be available in TurboTax desktop. Will it be available in an upcoming update for TurboTax online? as of now, it seems like my only way to submit form 3115 is by mail. I can’t e-file my return.

[PatriciaV]

Because Form 3115 is not supported by TurboTax Online in the interview, you may wish to switch TurboTax Desktop (where it is available in Forms Mode). Consult the instructions for this form: Instructions for Form 3115.

If you use TurboTax Desktop to prepare Form 3115, you may be able to e-file your return.

[taxmodern]

As Patricia mentioned, the 3115 isn't available in TurboTax online, but you can fill out the 3115 form in TurboTax Desktop if you switch to forms mode.   But that will still not likely be adequate since the 3115 has some required statements that you need to attach to it for most types of depreciation changes, and TurboTax doesn't provide a way to attach these required statements to your e-filed tax return.  You could instead paper file your tax return and add the additional statements that way.  But another option is you can e-file your tax return, and then within 3 business days, mail in the 3115 along with IRS form 8453 that can be used to provide a paper 3115 form separately from your e-filed tax return. 

By the way, you do additionally still need to also mail another copy of the 3115 to the IRS at a different mailing address, as explained in the 3115 form instructions.

The 3115 form and the required statements is a complicated process to figure out.  If you search online video websites, you should be able to find tutorial videos that should help explain how to file form 3115, and possibly information on specifically how to do that if you're using TurboTax for the rest of your tax return.