Sale of rental property - Do we include depreciation on appliances as well as the building? (2024)

Here's the deal, and I figured this out about the TurboTax program several years ago.

If you sell the property at a gain, then you must show a gain on "ALL" assets sold - even if that gain is only $1 on some of the assets.

If you sold the property at a loss, then you must show a loss on "ALL" assets sold - even if that loss is only $1 on some assets.

Most of the time (not in every situation) if you show a loss on some assets and a gain on others, the program just flat out *can* *not* deal with it correctly. Especially in the "depreciation recapture" arena. Worst part is, if it screws it up, you'll never know it until you get the nasty gram from the IRS a few months after your e-filed return is accepted by the IRS.

So I highly suggest you report your sale using the below guidance so as to avoid any possibility of any refund you may be expecting from being delayed, and you getting a nasty gram from the IRS fist, instead.

Reporting the Sale of Rental Property

If you qualify for the "lived in 2 of last 5 years" capital gains exclusion, then when prompted you WILL indicate that this sale DOES INCLUDE the sale of your main home. For AD MIL personnel who don't qualify because of PCS orders, select this option anyway, because you "MIGHT" qualify for at last a partial exclusion.

Start working through Rental & Royalty Income (SCH E) "AS IF" you did not sell the property. One of the screens near the start will ahve a selection on it for "I sold or otherwise disposed of this property in 2019". Select it. After you select the "I sold or otherwise disposed of this property in 2019" you continue working it through "as if" you still own it. When you come to the summary screen you will enter all of your rental income and expenses, even it it's zero. Then you MUST work through the "Sale of Assets/Depreciation" section. You must work through each individual asset one at a time to report its disposition (in your case, all your rental assets were sold).

Understand that if more than the property itself is listed in your assets list, then you need to allocate your sales price across all of your assets. You will only allocate the structure sales price; you will NOT allocate the land sales price, since the land is not a depreciable asset. Then if you sold this rental at a gain, you must show a gain on all assets, even if that gain is $1. Likewise, if you sold at a loss then you must show a loss on all assets, even if that loss is $1

Basically, when working through an asset you select the option for "I stopped using this asset in 2019" and go from there. Note that you MUST do this for EACH AND EVERY asset listed.

When you finish working through everything listed in the assets section, if you ever at any time you owned this rental you claimed vehicle expenses, then you must also work through the vehicle section and show the disposition of the vehicle. Most likely, your vehicle disposition will be "removed for personal use", as I seriously doubt you sold your vehicle as a part of this rental sale.

Sale of rental property - Do we include depreciation on appliances as well as the building? (2024)
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