IRS Pub527 says you can deduct travel expenses if the primary purpose is to MAINTAIN rental property, but not if it's to IMPROVE it. Is travel to REPAIR it deductible?

[ttmelbob]

Pub 527 distinguishes between repairs and maintenance in some places, so it is not clear whether use of the word "maintain" includes repair or not.

[Opus 17 · Accepted solution]

Both repairs and maintenance are expenses to keep the property in good order, so they are basically the same. Contrast with an "improvement" where the intent is to add value or extend the useful life of the property.  (Routine maintenance, even though it also "extends the useful life" is an expense similar to repairs.)

[ttmelbob]

Yes, thank you - that certainly makes sense. It's just worrying that the IRS is so vague about it when it would have been so easy for the author(s) of Pub 527 to have included the word "repair" in their list of purposes. Other places in Pub 527 specifically use both words repair and maintain in the same sentence.