Guide to Tax Deductions for Landlords

Owning rental property can be an excellent way to supplement (or even replace) your regular income.

After all, if you can find good tenants who pay on time every month, you can make substantial money while at your day job, playing with your kids, or even lying on the beach.

According to Business Insider, one of the ways that people get and stay wealthy is to have passive income sources, such as rental income.

However, real estate investors know that making money while sleeping isn’t the only benefit of owning rental property.

Being a rental property owner also qualifies you for several tax deductions to help ease your tax obligation or increase your yearly refund.

Table of Contents

Top 15 Tax deductions for landlords
Mortgage Interest
Commissions
Depreciation of Assets
Repairs, Maintenance, and Improvements
Utilities and Energy
Travel Expenses
Home office & Operating Expenses
Marketing Costs
Legal and other Professional fees
Start-up Expenses
Employees and Independent Contractors
Vehicles
Insurance
Theft and casualty losses
Passive Activity Losses
Further reading

Top 15 Tax deductions for landlords

1. Mortgage Interest

If you borrowed money to purchase your rental property, the interest you pay to the lender could be tax-deductible.

If you are yet to pay off your mortgage, you will most likely be paying real estate taxes through your mortgage broker or bank. The bank will outline this in form 1098, Mortgage Interest Statement form.

You will need to report your share of the interest when submitting your tax using Form 1040 Schedule E.

2. Commissions

You can deduct any commissions you offer property managers, salespeople, and tenants.

This includes any monetary incentives given to tenants that find new tenants if they are moving out.

3. Depreciation of Assets

Depreciation is a capital expense, providing a means to recover the costs of an income-producing property over the life of that property.

You can use form 4562 to claim your deduction and amortization for your property.

4. Repairs, Maintenance, and Improvements

The money you spend on maintaining your properties can also be deductible.

This includes paying to have the lawn mowed, carpet cleaned, or gutters and drainage system cleaned each fall.

Repairs vs. Improvements

When claiming expenses, there is a difference between ‘repairs’ and ‘improvements.’

A repair is something you have done to maintain the property or, according to the IRS, something that “does not add significant value to the property or extend its life.”

In contrast, an improvement results in the betterment of your property. It can either restore or adapt the property to a new or different use.

A betterment may include expenses spent:

fixing a pre-existing defect
increasing the capacity, strength, or quality of your property
enlarging or expanding the property

A restoration includes expenses used for:

replacing a structural part of the property
repairing damage (learn about normal wear and tear)
rebuilding your property to a like-new condition

Landlords could claim expenses used for adaptation if they altered the property beyond the intended use when they began renting to tenants.

Examples of home Improvements given by the IRS:

Full List of Deductions

Additions

Bedroom
Bathroom
Deck
Garage
Porch
Patio

Lawns and Grounds

Landscaping
Driveway
Walkway
Fence
Retaining wall
Sprinkler system
Swimming pool

Miscellaneous

Storm windows, doors
New roof
Central vacuum
Wiring upgrades
Satellite dish
Security system

Heating & Air Conditioning

Heating system
Central air conditioning
Furnace
Ductwork
Central humidifier
Filtration system

Plumbing

Septic system
Water heater
Soft water system
Filtration system

Interior Improvements

Built-in appliances
Kitchen modernization
Flooring
Wall-to-wall carpeting

Insulation

Attic
Walls, floor
Pipes, duct work

5. Utilities and Energy

If you pay for any of the utilities at your rental property as stipulated in the lease agreement, you may be able to claim them as an expense.

These utilities include electricity, gas, heating oil, water, and sewer costs, and trash and recycling not paid for by the tenant.

You may be able to claim a federal tax credit if you make any improvements or install appliances at your property that make it more energy efficient.

So get green and reduce your impact by making your property energy efficient now!

Residential energy property expenditures

The goal of residential energy-efficiency tax credits is to encourage individuals to increase residential energy-efficiency investments.

Landlords can claim two kinds of credits on property:

The first credit, the nonbusiness energy property tax credit (IRC §25C), regards energy-efficiency improvements made to the building envelope (insulation, windows, and doors) and for purchasing high-efficiency heating, cooling, and water-heating appliances purchase.
The second credit, the residential energy efficient property tax credit (IRC §25D), allows taxpayers to claim a credit for renewable energy (e.g., solar panels, geothermal heat pumps, small wind energy, fuel cells) systems installed on the residence.

For more information on how to make your home or rental property energy-efficient (and possibly claim it as an expense depending on state law), visit the US Department of Energy’s Energy Saver website.

6. Travel Expenses

Local travel for your rental business

Any local driving you do to manage your rental properties may also be claimed as an expense if you drive to collect rental income or manage, conserve, or maintain your rental property.

However, you can only claim this credit if your home is the place of business where you manage your property (see below).

You cannot deduct the expense if the primary purpose of the trip to the property is to improve the property (recover the cost of improvements by taking depreciation).

You can use the standard IRS mileage deduction if you drive your vehicle or deduct the cost of a bus ticket if you use public transportation.

Parking and tolls are also deductible. Use form Form 4562, Part V, to deduct these expenses.

For more information on how to deduct travel expenses, read chapter 4 of Publication 463 or page 4 of Publication 527.

Long distance travel

Most landlords won’t have overnight travel expenses associated with their rental business.

However, suppose you market your properties to people looking to move into your area.

In that case, you could potentially use hotel, flight, and meal expenses as a tax deduction if you live a considerable distance from the property, such as interstate or overseas.

7. Home office & Operating Expenses

If you use a portion of your home as the office where you manage your property as a business, you can deduct a portion of your home expenses, including:

stationary such as ink, paper, pens, staples, etc.
rental software
phone and internet bills

You can also deduct a percentage of those expenses equal to the portion of square footage your home office occupies compared to your entire home structure.

For more information on expenses claimed for your home office, read publication 527 on business use of your home.

8. Marketing Costs

Another deduction you can claim is the costs associated with finding and keeping tenants.

This includes advertising, the cost of application forms, flyers, and even the cost of your website (if you use it to attract renters.)

9. Legal and other Professional fees

If you require the services of a lawyer, attorney, accountant, or tax professional, you may be able to claim the costs as an expense.

This can include tax preparation fees and costs you paid resolving tax issues on your rental property (including preparing part I of Schedule E form 1040, Supplemental Income and Loss).

If you feel like you might be too busy to manage your property, you might need to hire a property manager.

10. Start-up Expenses

Your property may qualify as a start-up business, and, as such, you might be able to claim costs incurred for creating or investigating the acquisition of your active trade or business.

Landlords can only claim these expenses if the cost is:

incurred operating an existing active trade or business or
incurred before the day your active trade begins.

Some of the costs you may be able to claim include:

analysis of the market, including examining potential properties and researching local property markets
advertisements for gaining potential tenants
salaries and wages for any employees hired during this process
travel to and from the property or to real estate agencies etc.
fees for professional services rendered, including property managers, etc.

11. Employees and Independent Contractors

You might be able to deduct wages if you have hired staff to work on the property, either full-time or part-time.

This can include management fees, as previously mentioned, but can also refer to contractors hired to maintain or fix the property or if you have hired a superintendent or groundskeeper.

12. Vehicles

If you use your vehicle for your business, e.g., the maintenance of your property, you can choose from the following two methods for deducting the expense:

standard mileage rate
actual car expenses.

The standard mileage rate refers to using a car you own within the first year of the business operation, and you must use the vehicle throughout the entire lease period.

You can then claim the standard mileage rate or the expenses after the first year. For example, the standard mileage rate for 2015 was 57.5 cents per mile.

Actual car expenses include depreciation, licenses, gas, oil, tolls, insurance, parking fees, repairs, registration, tires, garage rent, and insurance.

Note: if you use the standard mileage rate that year, you cannot deduct your actual car expenses, and you need to include form 4562 part V in your tax return.

For more information regarding vehicle expenses, read IRS publication 463.

13. Insurance

The insurance premium you use to protect your property is generally deductible.

The types of insurance you may claim as an expense include:

insurance that covers fire, storm, theft, accident, or similar losses
credit insurance that covers losses from bad business debt
group hospitalization and medical insurance for employees, including long-term care insurance
liability insurance
malpractice insurance that covers your personal liability for professional negligence resulting in injury or damage to patients or clients
workers’ compensation insurance set by state law that covers any claims for bodily injuries or job related diseases suffered by employees in your business, regardless of fault.

14. Theft and casualty losses

Theft is defined as the unlawful taking and removing of your money or property with the intent to deprive you of it.

Causality refers to the damage, destruction, or loss of property resulting from an identifiable event that is sudden, unexpected, or unusual. Such events include a storm, fire, or earthquake.

If your building is vandalized or harmed by a natural disaster or fire, the amount of loss not covered by your insurance can be considered a tax deduction.

If your insurance company has paid you for losses incurred due to theft and casualty, you may also be able to claim it as a gain instead of a loss.

For more information regarding publication 527, read the Residential Rental Property by the Department of Treasury.

This document provides details regarding tax deductions on your rental property.

15. Passive Activity Losses

Most rental real estate activities are ‘passive’ activities, meaning you receive income mainly for the use of tangible property rather than services.

Renting your property to a tenant is generally considered a passive activity, even if you materially participated in the activity.

Deductions or losses from these activities are limited. Usually, you cannot offset income or losses from passive income activities.

According to the IRS, there are two types of passive activities:

Trade or business activities in which you do not materially participate during the year.
Rental activities, even if you do materially participate in them unless you are a real estate professional.

However, there is an exception: a special $25,000 allowance.

Suppose you or your spouse actively participated in a passive rental real estate activity. In that case, the amount of disallowed passive activity loss decreases and you can therefore deduct up to $25,000 of loss from the activity from your non-passive income.

This allowance is an exception to the general rule, so ask your tax accountant if you qualify for it.

Top 15 Tax Deductions for Landlords