Rental Property Depreciation or Not

[nereed1103]

My husband and I are 50% owners of a Duplex Rental Property with our son.  This year we lost one renter near the end of the year (Oct) and decided to do some needed improvements to the property.  We spent $14,500 on new porches for both sides of the duplex and both the front porches and the rear porches (which were a two story effort in the back).  This resulted in an overall loss for us this year.  When I did our MFJ taxes, I entered this as repairs.  I just e-filed our taxes.  Now as I am going through my son's taxes, I noticed he didn't get the same depreciation deduction that we received, so I started looking at his again.  Turbo asked if he wanted to add this improvement as an "asset" so that it is calculated into the depreciation.  Before I say yes and proceed with his, I'm worried that I missed something when doing ours and I missed the opportunity to claim this as an asset and depreciate it over time as well.  Is is too late to change our return?  Since we are getting a refund do I wait until that processes?

[HelenC12 · Accepted solution]

If your return gets rejected, you'll be able to change your tax return without having to amend it.

If you e-filed your return and it was accepted by the IRS, yes, wait for the IRS to process your return before you amend it.

• See How to amend (change or correct) a return you already filed?

The porches are not repairs. They're depreciable assets.

• Capital improvements that add to the value of your rental property, prolong its life, or adapt it to new uses must be depreciated over a period of time rather than deducted as a current-year expense. 

To enter your rental improvements, simply follow the directions to enter your rental income and expenses.

• At some point you'll come across the Rental Summary screen.
• Select Start next to Asset/Depreciation and follow the onscreen instructions.
• We'll figure out which depreciation method works best in your favor.

[nereed1103]

Thank you for the help!!