Rental property

[ko-stax-s]

we returned to our home, which we had been renting , in 2015.  In April 2016 we left the state again for work and rented it out for the balance of the year.  Do I list this home as a rental property?

[Carl]

Need more information so as to confirm you have done everything correctly up to and including your 2015 tax return. (We'll deal with the 2016 return after this.)
What was the period(s) of rental and period(s) of it being your primary residence? Need dates. Basically, did you live in the home as your primary residence or 2nd home at any time in 2015? If so, then on what date did the last renter move out, and on what date did you move in?
All this stuff matters, because you have to report conversions from rental, to personal use, back to rental, and so forth. You also have to account for all depreciation taken as you convert the property back and forth.

[ko-stax-s]

renters left in mar 2015, we moved back in  the same month.  we were transferred again mid april 2016, hired a contractor to make improvements from then until june.  Rented property out in july

[Carl]

We're still on the 2015 (twenty fifteen) taxes now. When you filed the 2015 tax return, did you report the property on SCH E as being converted from rental, back to personal use? The conversion date from rental to personal use would have been one day after the last renter moved out.
If you did not report the conversion, then did you declare "personal use" days for the number of days starting the day after the last renter moved out?
Please bear with me, as I want to be 'sure' I provide you accurate information that's based on what you factually have done in the past, so as not to "screw up" your system. 🙂

[ko-stax-s]

yes we converted the property back from rental to personal

[Carl]

Good deal. Then I will assume that on your 2016 taxes you are converting it back to rental, and understand how all that works. Was the SCH E information imported into 2016 from last year? I ask, because if not, then you've got to manually enter all the prior year's depreciation taken on the property, as you work it through the program for 2016 taxes. But to answer your base question in the original post, you'll definitely be reporting this on SCH E for 2016 and showing the conversion back to rental.
I would "expect" that if you correctly and completely converted everything to personal use on the 2015 taxes, then it was not imported into your 2016 taxes.

[ko-stax-s]

thank you

[Carl]

I'm providing the below for the benefit of others who may read this thread. The way the program "asks" for things can be misleading if one doesn't read the small print. So that's why I'm posting it here.

Rental Property Dates & Numbers That Matter.

Date of Conversion - If this was your primary residence before, then this date is the day AFTER  you moved out.
In Service Date - This is the date a renter "could" have moved in. Usually, this date is the day you put the FOR RENT sign in the front yard.
Number of days Rented - the day count for this starts from the first day a renter "could" have moved in. That should be your "in service" date if you were asked for that. vacant periods between renters count also PROVIDED you did not live in the house for one single day during said period of vacancy.
Days of Personal Use - This number will be a big fat ZERO. Read the screen. It's asking for the number of days you lived in the property AFTER you converted it to a rental. I seriously doubt (though it is possible) that you lived in the house (or space, if renting a part of your home) as your primary residence or 2nd home, after you converted it to a rental.
Business Use Percentage. 100%. I'll put that in words so there's no doubt I didn't make a typo here. One Hundred Percent. After you converted this property or space to rental use, it was one hundred percent business use. What you used it for prior to the date of conversion doesn't count.