Expenses on an un-rented apartment in an owner-occupied duplex

[bprochford]

I closed on a duplex at the end of September 2022, and I live in the lower apartment. The upper is available as a rental, and was for the remainder of 2022, but no renters applied. I have expenses for additional work done on the rental unit, as well as utilities that I've paid for, and standard costs for the home purchase like mortgage interest.

May I still deduct interest, utilities, expenses etc. for the upper apartment, even though it produced no income for 2022?

[MinhT1]

Yes, you can deduct rental expenses from the date the unit is available for rent even if there is no rental income yet.

So in 2022, you can deduct the portion attributable to the rental unit of mortgage interest, property taxes, utilities and depreciation. You will then have a rental loss.

Taxpayers whose modified adjusted gross income, or MAGI, is less than $100,000 can claim up to $25,000 in rental losses. The $25,000 cap is reduced $1 for every $2 a taxpayer's MAGI exceeds $100,000. For example, a MAGI of $110,000 exceeds $100,000 by $10,000 so the $25,000 limit is reduced to $20,000. The deduction of passive losses is completely phased out at $150,000 of MAGI. These limits apply to both those filing single or married filing jointly.