rental

[lew211]

Can you still claim property as a rental, if you didn't rent it in 2020?

[Carl]

Yes, provided you "attempted" to rent it out in 2020. If you did not at least "attempt" to rent it out in 2020, you might still be able to claim it as rental property "if" you have a valid reason for not renting it out. For example, if the property was not rented because it was undergoing renovation.

Otherwise, you will need to convert it to personal use.  Let me forewarn you on something here.  One of the screens has a selection on it for "I did not rent or attempt to rent this property in 2020" Whatever you do, do not select that checkbox. If you do, then you will be "FORCED" to delete the SCH E and you will lose all of your depreciation history and carry over losses PERMANENTLY.

So if you have a concern out your specific situation of weather you should convert or not, give me a bit more details as to "why" you didn't rent or attempt to rent it out in 2020, and I"ll do my best to help out here.

[lew211]

I did try to rent it out, Jan. & Feb. Then covid hit , so I just worked on it and left it empty for 2020  

[Carl]

You're fine leaving it as a rental then. Many landlords were unable to get renters because of the pandemic.

When working it through, you "have" to enter a digit in the rental income section. Even if that digit is the number ZERO. If you leave the rental income section blank, the program will "complain" at filing time and won't let you e-file.

Note the following:

Since the property was "available for rent" during the year, you will indicate that the property was rented "the entire year". It's not going to raise any flags for that, just because you show zero income.

YOu can and should still enter any rental expenses incurred during the year. Things like utilities, yard maintenance, and repair or other costs you incurred while working on it, etc. That way, any expense deductions not allowed for 2020 because you had no rental income in 2020 to deduct them from, will be automatically carried over to 2021.

Just curious, do you have it rented out yet?