Depreciable Life Of Laminate Flooring In Rental

How to depreciate carpets and other flooring.

Depreciable life of laminate flooring in rental.

You can begin to depreciate rental property when it is ready and available for rent. For residential real estate carpet is depreciated over five years but put in new flooring wood tile or linoleum and it will take 27 5 years to completely depreciate the cost. These types of flooring include hardwood tile vinyl and glued down carpet. That s because new floors are expected to last the life of the property.

You will depreciate new flooring in a rental over 27 5 years if it is permanent or 5 years if it is easily removed such as carpeting. Most flooring is considered to be permanently affixed. Oh it gets worse. Depreciation is a capital expense.

If the carpet is glued down perhaps in a basement then it becomes attached to the property and must be depreciated over 27 5 years. Here s the bad news. The real question is whether or not you can treat this as a repair. Carpeting is depreciated over either five years or 27 5 years depending on how it is installed.

You treat the improvement as separate depreciable property. Since these floors are considered to be a part of your rental property they have the same useful life as your rental property. It is the mechanism for recovering your cost in an income producing property and must be taken over the expected life of the property. Because of this you must capitalize depreciate them.

Most other types of flooring i e. Carpets are normally depreciated over 5 years this applies however only to carpets that are tacked down. Laminate floors are treated as affixed to the structure unit of property uop and therefore should be depreciated over a period of 27 5 years. When you remodel a rental home this is considered an improvement as compared to a repair because it increases the value of the rental.

See placed in service under when does depreciation begin and end in chapter 2. Most flooring is considered to be permanently affixed. Since these floors are considered to be a part of your rental property they have the same useful life as your rental property. Most other types of flooring are depreciated using the 27 5 year schedule only.

Additions or improvements to property. Carpeting can technically be pulled up and moved whereas laminate cannot. As such the irs requires you to depreciate them over a 27 5 year period. However each item is depreciated in its own category.

That s why carpeting gets the special treatment. Click on this irs link for more information. Conversely if you replace the windows in a rental house you depreciate over 27 5 years because it s a residential property.