My property is a co-owned duplex, how would I show that on my taxes and get refund for maintenance, etc.

[sbostock47]

I live on my half of the duplex, where the other half of the duplex my co-owner gets the full rental income, but we both paid repairs for the house when first bought.

[MiriamF · Accepted solution]

[edited] You can only deduct your expenses from the rental only if you were an active participant.

To be an active participant, you must

1. Own at least 10% of the property, and 
2. Make major decisions about the property, such as approving new tenants and authorizing repairs.

Rental income is regarded as passive income by the IRS, and if you are not a real estate professional or not actively engaged in renting, then you cannot list losses that exceed your income from that activity. If you are an active participant, then your losses are limited to $25,000.

When you made repairs at the time the property was purchased, and if the property was not yet available to rent, then those repairs get added into the basis of the duplex. You will recover your investment when the duplex is sold, and the basis gets subtracted from the sale price in determining your profit.

Here is what the IRS has to say about rental activities and passive loss rules:

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p527/ch03.html#en_US_2016_publink1000219118

[MiriamF]

Note that the answer has been edited.