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We sold our rental home in 2020 and did a lot of improvements in the last 4 years. How do we get the full deductible amounts to reduce capital gains?

We replaced a roof, installed a new kitchen, replaced a deck and front porch etc. We logged them as assets to depreciate, but they have not completed their depreciation.
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4 Replies
ColeenD3
Expert Alumni

We sold our rental home in 2020 and did a lot of improvements in the last 4 years. How do we get the full deductible amounts to reduce capital gains?

You have two possible choices. You can enter a sales price of zero, since the entire sales price was allocated to the house, or you can separate a portion of the sales price appropriate to the improvements and apply it to them.

We sold our rental home in 2020 and did a lot of improvements in the last 4 years. How do we get the full deductible amounts to reduce capital gains?

I don't see an option to enter a sales price in the asset location. It is just asking me when I stopped using the asset, which would be the house sale date. 

ColeenD3
Expert Alumni

We sold our rental home in 2020 and did a lot of improvements in the last 4 years. How do we get the full deductible amounts to reduce capital gains?

Did you indicate the sale?

 

Carl
Level 15

We sold our rental home in 2020 and did a lot of improvements in the last 4 years. How do we get the full deductible amounts to reduce capital gains?

You can enter a sales price of zero,

Unfortunately, that will not work. At least not with the TurboTax program.

If you show a gain on some assets and a loss on others, then depreciation recapture on those assets you show a loss on is not figured correctly. I've already confirmed this with the CD/Desktop version of Home & Business. It creates an absolute mess that the "final checks" in the program just flat out do not catch or flag. Please use the below guidance to report the sale, to reduce the probability of an "audit by mail" on this.

Reporting the Sale of Rental Property

If you qualify for the "lived in 2 of last 5 years" capital gains exclusion, then when prompted you WILL indicate that this sale DOES INCLUDE the sale of your main home. For AD MIL personnel who don't qualify because of PCS orders, select this option anyway, because you "MIGHT" qualify for at last a partial exclusion.

Start working through Rental & Royalty Income (SCH E) "AS IF" you did not sell the property. One of the screens near the start will have a selection on it for "I sold or otherwise disposed of this property in  2020". Select it. After you select the "I sold or otherwise disposed of this property in 2020" you continue working it through "as if" you still own it. When you come to the summary screen you will enter all of your rental income and expenses, even if it's zero. Then you MUST work through the "Sale of Property/Depreciation" section. You must work through each individual asset one at a time to report its disposition (in your case, all your rental assets were sold).

Understand that if more than the property itself is listed in your assets list, then you need to allocate your sales price across all of your assets.  You will only allocate the structure sales price; you will NOT allocate the land sales price, since the land is not a depreciable asset.  Then if you sold this rental at a gain, you must show a gain on all assets, even if that gain is $1 on some assets. Likewise, if you sold at a loss then you must show a loss on all assets, even if that loss is $1 on some assets.

Basically, when working through an asset you select the option for "I stopped using this asset in 2020" and go from there. Note that you MUST do this for EACH AND EVERY asset listed.

When you finish working through everything listed in the assets section, if you ever at any time you owned this rental you claimed vehicle expenses, then you must also work through the vehicle section and show the disposition of the vehicle. Most likely, your vehicle disposition will be "removed for personal use", as I seriously doubt you sold your vehicle as a part of this rental sale.

 

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