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Publication 17
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10. Rental Income and ExpensesImportant ChangeSpecial depreciation allowance. You can claim a special depreciation allowance for qualified property you placed in service after September 10, 2001. The allowance is a depreciation deduction equal to 30% of the property's depreciable basis. Qualified property includes property depreciated under the modified accelerated cost recovery system (MACRS) with a recovery period of 20 years or less. See Special Depreciation Allowance under Depreciation later, for more information. IntroductionThis chapter discusses rental income and expenses. It covers the following topics.
If you sell or otherwise dispose of your rental property, see Publication 544, Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets. If you have a loss from damage to, or theft of, rental property, see Publication 547, Casualties, Disasters, and Thefts. If you rent a condominium or a cooperative apartment, some special rules apply to you even though you receive the same tax treatment as other owners of rental property. See Publication 527, Residential Rental Property, for more information. Useful ItemsYou may want to see: Publication
Form (and Instructions)
Rental IncomeYou generally must include in your gross income all amounts you receive as rent. Rental income is any payment you receive for the use or occupation of property. In addition to amounts you receive as normal rent payments, there are other amounts that may be rental income. When to report. Report rental income on your return for the year you actually or constructively receive it, if you are a cash basis taxpayer. You are a cash basis taxpayer if you report income in the year you receive it, regardless of when it was earned. You constructively receive income when it is made available to you, for example, by being credited to your bank account. For more information about when you constructively receive income, see Accounting Methods in chapter 1. Advance rent. Advance rent is any amount you receive before the period that it covers. Include advance rent in your rental income in the year you receive it regardless of the period covered or the method of accounting you use. Example. You sign a 10-year lease to rent your property. In the first year, you receive $5,000 for the first year's rent and $5,000 as rent for the last year of the lease. You must include $10,000 in your income in the first year. Security deposits. Do not include a security deposit in your income when you receive it if you plan to return it to your tenant at the end of the lease. But if you keep part or all of the security deposit during any year because your tenant does not live up to the terms of the lease, include the amount you keep in your income for that year. If an amount called a security deposit is to be used as a final payment of rent, it is advance rent. Include it in your income when you receive it. Payment for canceling a lease. If your tenant pays you to cancel a lease, the amount you receive is rent. Include the payment in your income in the year you receive it regardless of your method of accounting. Expenses paid by tenant. If your tenant pays any of your expenses, the payments are rental income. You must include them in your income. You can deduct the expenses if they are deductible rental expenses. See Rental Expenses, later, for more information. Property or services. If you receive property or services, instead of money, as rent, include the fair market value of the property or services in your rental income. If the services are provided at an agreed upon or specified price, that price is the fair market value unless there is evidence to the contrary. Rental of property also used as a home. If you rent property that you also use as your home and you rent it fewer than 15 days during the tax year, do not include the rent you receive in your income and do not deduct rental expenses. However, you can deduct on Schedule A (Form 1040) the interest, taxes, and casualty and theft losses that are allowed for nonrental property. See Personal Use of Dwelling Unit (Including Vacation Home), later. Part interest. If you own a part interest in rental property, you must report your part of the rental income from the property. Rental ExpensesThis part discusses repairs and certain other expenses of renting property that you ordinarily can deduct from your rental income. It includes information on the expenses you can deduct if you rent part of your property, or if you change your property to rental use. Depreciation, which you can also deduct from your rental income, is discussed later. When to deduct. You generally deduct your rental expenses in the year you pay them. Vacant rental property. If you hold property for rental purposes, you may be able to deduct your ordinary and necessary expenses (including depreciation) for managing, conserving, or maintaining the property while the property is vacant. However, you cannot deduct any loss of rental income for the period the property is vacant. Pre-rental expenses. You can deduct your ordinary and necessary expenses for managing, conserving, or maintaining rental property from the time you make it available for rent. Depreciation. You can begin to depreciate rental property when it is ready and available for rent. See Placed-in Service Date under Depreciation, later. Expenses for rental property sold. If you sell property you held for rental purposes, you can deduct the ordinary and necessary expenses for managing, conserving, or maintaining the property until it is sold. Personal use of rental property. If you sometimes use your rental property for personal purposes, you must divide your expenses between rental and personal use. Also, your rental expense deductions may be limited. See Personal Use of Dwelling Unit (Including Vacation Home), later. Part interest. If you own a part interest in rental property, you can deduct your part of the expenses that you paid. Repairs and ImprovementsYou can deduct the cost of repairs to your rental property. You cannot deduct the cost of improvements. You recover the cost of improvements by taking depreciation (explained later).
Repairs. A repair keeps your property in good operating condition. It does not materially add to the value of your property or substantially prolong its life. Repainting your property inside or out, fixing gutters or floors, fixing leaks, plastering, and replacing broken windows are examples of repairs. If you make repairs as part of an extensive remodeling or restoration of your property, the whole job is an improvement. Improvements. An improvement adds to the value of your property, prolongs its useful life, or adapts it to new uses. Improvements include the following items.
If you make an improvement to property, the cost of the improvement must be capitalized. The capitalized cost can generally be depreciated as if the improvement were separate property. Other ExpensesOther expenses you can deduct from your rental income include advertising, cleaning and maintenance services, utilities, fire and liability insurance, taxes, interest, commissions for the collection of rent, ordinary and necessary travel and transportation, and other expenses, discussed next. Rental payments for property. You can deduct the rent you pay for property that you use for rental purposes. If you buy a leasehold for rental purposes, you can deduct an equal part of the cost each year over the term of the lease. Rental of equipment. You can deduct the rent you pay for equipment that you use for rental purposes. However, in some cases, lease contracts are actually purchase contracts. If so, you cannot deduct these payments. You can recover the cost of purchased equipment through depreciation. Insurance premiums paid in advance. If you pay an insurance premium for more than one year in advance, each year you can deduct the part of the premium payment that will apply to that year. You cannot deduct the total premium in the year you pay it. Local benefit taxes. Generally, you cannot deduct charges for local benefits that increase the value of your property, such as charges for putting in streets, sidewalks, or water and sewer systems. These charges are nondepreciable capital expenditures. You must add them to the basis of your property. You can deduct local benefit taxes if they are for maintaining, repairing, or paying interest charges for the benefits. Travel expenses. You can deduct the ordinary and necessary expenses of traveling away from home if the primary purpose of the trip was to collect rental income or to manage, conserve, or maintain your rental property. You must properly allocate your expenses between rental and nonrental activities. For information on travel expenses, see chapter 28.
Local transportation expenses. You can deduct your ordinary and necessary local transportation expenses if you incur them to collect rental income or to manage, conserve, or maintain your rental property. Generally, if you use your personal car, pickup truck, or light van for rental activities, you can deduct the expenses using one of two methods: actual expenses or the standard mileage rate. For 2002, the standard mileage rate for all business miles is 36½ cents a mile. For more information, see chapter 28.
Tax return preparation. You can deduct, as a rental expense, the part of the tax return preparation fees you paid to prepare Part I of Schedule E (Form 1040). You can also deduct, as a rental expense, any portion of the total expense you paid to resolve a tax underpayment related to your rental activities. On your 2002 Schedule E, you can deduct fees paid in 2002 to prepare Part I of your 2001 Schedule E. Not Rented for ProfitIf you do not rent your property to make a profit, you can deduct your rental expenses only up to the amount of your rental income. Any rental expenses in excess of rental income cannot be carried forward to the next year. For more information about the rules for an activity not engaged in for profit, see chapter 1 of Publication 535. Where to report. Report your not-for-profit rental income on line 21, Form 1040. You can include your mortgage interest (if you use the property as your main home or second home), real estate taxes, and casualty losses on the appropriate lines of Schedule A (Form 1040), Itemized Deductions, if you itemize your deductions. Claim your other rental expenses, subject to the rules explained in chapter 1 of Publication 535, as miscellaneous itemized deductions on line 22 of Schedule A (Form 1040). You can deduct these expenses only if they, together with certain other miscellaneous itemized deductions, total more than 2% of your adjusted gross income. Property Changed
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Separate the costs
of repairs and improvements, and keep accurate records. You will need to know the cost of
improvements when you sell or depreciate your property.