Prior year rental expenses at sale

[subway41]

Sold a rental property in 2019 that was vacant since 2014. Sch E for those years had not been filed.

The property had been fully depreciated by the end of 2013 so that depreciation is not a factor. However we did have expenses such as insurance, real estate taxes, utilities directly attributable to the property. How can we record those expenses against the profit from the sale of the property in 2019?

[DoninGA]

If the rental property was no longer being used as a rental for those prior tax years, you should have been deducting any Mortgage Interest, Mortgage Insurance and Real Estate Property taxes on Schedule A of your personal tax return Form 1040.  Insurance and utilities can never be deducted on a personal residence, not used as a rental or in a business.  None of those expenses can be used as a Selling Expense for the the sale of the property.

[Anonymous]

When a rental property is vacant, a landlord remains able to claim deductions despite the loss of rental income. The Internal Revenue Service has specific guidelines regarding claiming expenses related to a rental property when the property is vacant.

Ordinary And Necessary Expenses
The IRS refers to ordinary and necessary expenses in reference to rental property, so a clear understanding of the terms is a must when determining what expenses can be deducted when your property is vacant. Ordinary and necessary expenses for vacant rental properties are the costs of managing, conserving and maintaining the property. Examples include the cost of electricity used while showing the property, payments made for lawn maintenance and the cost of repairs made to keep the property in good operating condition. As long as your rental property is out for rent while it is vacant, local taxes are considered an ordinary expense eligible for deduction. Interest on a mortgage loan is also an expense that can be deducted.

When your rental property is vacant after the departure of one tenant, you are able to deduct certain expenses until a new renter is found. Ordinary and necessary expenses are eligible for deduction during this time period. You can also include the amount of time a property spent vacant in your depreciation calculations for the property during the tax year. However, you are not allowed to report the amount of lost rent while the property was vacant on your taxes as a loss of income

When you decide to sell a rental property and it becomes vacant, you remain able to claim ordinary and necessary expenses incurred while keeping the property in ready-to-sell condition. All common ordinary and necessary expenses are deductible, but there are also additional costs related to the expense of selling a property. Any upfront real estate agent fees, listing fees for ads in commercial property publications and other promotional expenses tied to the potential sale are also necessary costs and, therefore, deductions.

so the proper year to deduct those expenses was in the year paid not 2019.

you can only amend 2015 (maybe)  thru 2018.   2015 can't be amended if it wasn't extended. 

earlier year expenses are lost.