Where can I find the cost basis for a rental property I put into Turbo Tax? I need to adjust the cost basis but can't find it anywhere now.

Please be aware that if you change the method of depreciation, you may have to notify the IRS with Form 3115, Application for Change in Accounting method. 

 

To see your rental property:

1. Sign into your TurboTax account.
2. Select Pick up where I left off or Continue.
3. Select Federal then Wages & Income from the left side menu.
4. On the Wages and income screen, scroll down to Rental Properties and Royalties (Sch E) and Edit/Add.
5. If you get to the Your 2022 rentals and royalties summary screen, Edit the property. If you only have one property, select Edit.
6. On the Here's XXX rental property info screen, scroll down to Assets. At Improvements, furnishings, and other assets, select Edit.  
7. If you land on the Your improvements, furnishings, and other assets screen, click on the pencil  to the right of your property.
8. If you land on the Your Property Assets screen, click on the Edit next to the asset you want to view.  
9. On the Review Information screen, verify the information.
10. Continue and on the Results screen, you should see the depreciation for the current year.

To see the depreciation and amortization schedule’s plus the Asset Life History, you’ll need to print out the worksheets. 

Set it up in an early step where it asked about the price and cost basis. Now it is no where to be found and is not calculating depreciation.

I am assuming that 2022 was the first year you placed the property in service. If 2022 was *not* the first year you placed the property in service, then it matters, as the below information "will" most definitely mess things up.

Work through the Assets/Depreciation section and your property should be listed there. If it's not, then add the property itself as your first asset. For clarity:

COST: What you paid for the property in full, plus the cost of any property improvements you paid for, minus your selling/purchase expenses.

COST OF LAND: the amount in the COST box that you are allocating to the land.

When done, your cost basis for depreciation will be figured by the program (not you) by subtracting the COST OF LAND from COST.

To confirm the correct depreciation in that first year, you can use the worksheet in IRS Publication 946 at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p946.pdf  The worksheet you need for this is on page 37, and the table that applies for line 6 of the worksheet is table A-6 on page 71

Remember, absolute perfection on this in the first year is not an option. It's a must. Even the tiniest of mistakes in this can (and will) grow exponentially over time. Typically, the mistake isn't realized until the tax year you sell the property. Then, the cost of fixing it will be expensive. So confirm it's correct from the get-go, and you won't have any costly surprises in the future.