I had a new hot water heater installed for our vacation home that I rented 60 days last year. Do I depreciate this or expense it? We will probably not rent after this.

[jbeau2230]

Where do I had it in either scenario.  The cost was 1535 dollars.

[LeeM · Accepted solution]

You should depreciate that water heater over the same depreciable life as your vacation home (27.5 years). While your water heater will not last that long, the IRS states in Publication 527, page 5:

In Table 1-1 of IRS Pub. 527, “Water heater” is specifically identified as an example of an improvement. The publication states that such improvements must be capitalized, not deducted as rental expenses. 

Table 2-1 states that improvements are to use the same recovery period as that of the property to which the improvement is made. In this case, the recovery period of the house is 27.5 years.

You can review Publication 527 Residential Rental Property, at this link:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p527.pdf