Are major kitchen appliance purchases (refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, microwave) included in Adjusted Cost Basis home improvements?

[Leonard · Accepted solution]

No the cost of major kitchen appliances is not added to the adjusted cost basis of your home.  Only capital improvements are added to the adjusted cost basis of your home.  A capital improvement is an addition to or a permanent structural change or the restoration of some aspect of a property that will either enhance the property's overall value, increase its useful life or adapt it to new uses.

[chiz147]

What about built-in appliances, like the dishwasher? I've read on several other forums that because it's a permanent addition to the home it counts toward your adjusted cost basis.

[chiz147]

When we purchased our home it did not include a fridge. We purchased a fridge to be built into the cabinets. When we sold the home, the fridge stayed with the home, as it was a custom fit for the kitchen. In this case, does the fridge count as an addition to our adjusted cost basis?

[Carl]

What about built-in appliances, like the dishwasher?

No. It does not add to the cost basis of the home. Perhaps what you read was related to rental property? Even then, it's not added to the cost basis of the property. Rental property is depreciated over 27.5 years. Appliances are depreciated over 5 years, and only if used as a business asset.

Purchasing appliances for your residence is not a deduction in any way, shape or form, and it does not change the cost basis of your property either, in any way, shape or form.

[TaxingActivity]

...missed the word "adjusted", and assumed we were talking about cost basis on the *sale* of a home.  Thanks, @Carl.  

So for immediate deductions on a primary or secondary residence, there are none.  However, on the sale of the property, built-in appliances *may* add to the cost basis.  Check https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p523.pdf, page 8 and 9 for more information on this.

[Carl]

If this is for non-business property, such as one's primary residence, 2nd home or vacation home, it does absolutely nothing to one's taxes until the year 1 of three things happens in the owner's life.

1- They convert the property to business use (such as a rental)

2- They sell the property

3 - They die.