Rental property deprecation numbers

[nbhardwaj]

Hi TurboTax community,

I am using the latest browser version of TurboTax Premium on my Mac. I have a rental property in North Carolina for which I wanted to enter depreciation info (such as when I bought the property and the land value etc) to reduce my taxes. Can anyone tell me where exactly do I put those numbers in my current latest version of browser TurboTax? How do I get to the section where TurboTax asks me those questions?

Thank you so much in advance!

[KrisD15]

TurboTax Premier offers rental under 

wages & Income

Rental Properties and Royalties. 

You will first be asked to set-up the rental profile (address, your participation level)

Once the rental profile is complete, do not leave that rental section, but scroll down to 

Assets/Depreciation

Here is where you enter the building and land values. 

If in a later year you add a new roof or appliances, you would return to this section to enter those additional assets.

If you get lost, 

return to the Rental and Royalties section

Answer "yes" to review 

Select EDIT for the rental from the list on the "Rental and Royalty Summary" screen

Scroll down to Assets/Depreciation 

[nbhardwaj]

Thanks, KrisD15,

I already set up the property so I can't use your option 1.

As to the 2nd part of your reply, if I go that property and click edit, it asks for General info, Rental type and usage and, Owner info.  Nothing about depreciation on that page. But the next section is called "Expenses / Assets (Depreciation)" and includes things like maintenance,  mortgage interest, utilities, mgmt fee, repairs, etc.  Is that all part of depreciation? It did not ask me for value of house/land, year of purchase etc.

Would I need to set up the initial profile again to enter this info?

Thanks for your prompt help!

[KrisD15]

No, once the rental profile has been set up, it needn't be repeated.

I am not on a MAC, and in my program Expenses are separate from Assets. 

Can you continue through that section and see if there is a screen that allows you to "Add an asset" ?

[nbhardwaj]

Thanks, @KrisD15 so much!

Yes, I can "add an asset" but following are the only options. What can I do to add a value? I have the depreciation number from my last year and I did not do any major improvement like a new roof. I just replaced a heater which was $1800. 

Assets

Rental property

This is the property itself. Since we know this applies to you, we've already selected it.

Improvements, furnishings, and other assets

Examples:

• Fencing, wall-to-wall carpeting, etc.
• Couch, bed, etc.
• Amortizable intangibles (mortgage points)

Expenses

Other taxes

Examples:

• Social security taxes for employees
• Medicare and unemployment taxes for employees
• Personal property tax

Supplies

Examples:

• Toner or ink for printers
• Pencils, pens, staples
• Pesticides, janitorial items, pool chemicals

Vehicle

Costs from driving your vehicle(s) for rental purposes like:

• Mileage, parking fees
• Gas, oil changes
• Insurance

Professional and legal fees

Examples include

• Tax prep and accounting advice
• Engineering and consulting
• Legal fees for rental matters

Commissions

Examples:

• Sales commissions
• Commissions paid to managers

Travel (not auto)

Examples:

• Airfare
• Hotels
• Rental cars, taxis and ride share services

Other interest

Examples:

• Mortgage interest paid on your rental when you didn't get Form 1098
• Mortgage points
• Interest paid on any loans you took out and used for your rental

Miscellaneous expenses

Any other rental expenses.

[KrisD15]

Are you saying that the rental was set up in a previous year? 

Was the building and land already listed as assets for the rental ?

If everything was already entered, the program determines the yearly deprecation, as well as the depreciation taken in prior years. 

You should have Schedule E as well as your depreciation schedule in your forms. 

Switch to FORM on the top (LEFT ON MAC I BELIEVE) and look for the depreciation on Schedule E line 18 for the year (2024) and Deprecation Report showing the building and land. 

Are you asking something different?   

[nbhardwaj]

Thanks @KrisD15 

Line 18 in Schedule E is empty currently. 

Actually, for the past two years, my tax advisor had been doing my taxes and I just checked that both in 22 and 23 they listed about $5000 as depreciation. This is the first time I'm using TurboTax to do my taxes.  
I started renting out this property in 2016 when I moved out. I am not sure how to answer your question "Was the building and land already listed as assets for the rental?".
But my main question is, can I still claim this depreciation in line 18 this year? And if so, how do I do that in Turbotax?

Thanks so much!!

[nbhardwaj]

Hi @KrisD15 ,

By clicking around, I also found this option of "add an asset". The options in this case are:
Rental real estate property: land improvement, and real estate property

Intangibles other property: amortizable intangible property and other property"

Is Any of these sections relevant to me adding the land value, house value and year of purchase to calculate depreciation in line 18? Thank you so much for your help.

[KrisD15]

I checked with a MAC user and she says the rental section for a MAC looks the same. 

Maybe close out and reopen, since that seems to be the advice to give in order for the program to work as it should. 

I am assuming you have had a rental and are just this year starting a TurboTax account.

You indicated this was already done, but let's review:

On the Federal return, you selected 

Wages & Income

Rental Properties and Royalties

Rental Properties and Royalties (Sch E)   Start (or Update)

Do you want to review? YES

Real estate professional ?

Rental and Royalty Summary

Select EDIT if listed

Here is the screen you should see at this point 

From here you select Assets/Depreciation and enter the asset if it is not listed.

The first screen will ask "Do you want to go directly to your asset summary?

select "Yes" and continue 

What is listed as "Your Property Assets" on this screen? 

[nbhardwaj]

Thanks so much, @KrisD15.

As I had said in my first post, I am using the browser version TurboTax, which is different from your app/software. However, I figured it out, I needed to "Add an asset" and then enter all the information along with all the total depreciation claimed in the last few years. I needed to do this because I am using TurboTax the first time here. Now I see an approximately correct depreciation amount in my line 18 of schedule E. Thank you so much for your help!