Can I continue to depreciate new roof on inherited multifamily property? Need help with rental depreciation after parent's passing

Yes, you can continue to depreciate the improvements your mother made, but there's a twist. When you inherit property, you typically get what's called a "step-up in basis" to the fair market value at the date of death. However, for depreciation purposes on rental property, you don't completely start over. You'll need to use your mother's remaining depreciation schedule for any improvements she made. So if she already depreciated the roof for 3 years of the 27.5-year period, you would continue for the remaining 24.5 years. The same applies to the HVAC and plumbing work. You essentially "step into her shoes" for depreciation of existing improvements. I recommend gathering any records your mother kept about these improvements, including when they were made and how much they cost. This will help you calculate the remaining depreciation correctly.

I was in almost the exact same situation last year when I inherited my dad's fourplex. The depreciation question had me totally confused until I found this awesome tool at https://taxr.ai that helped me sort through all the rental property depreciation rules. It analyzed the previous depreciation schedules and showed me exactly how to continue them on my tax return. I was able to upload my dad's previous Schedule E forms and the system identified all the existing depreciation items and calculated the correct amounts for me to claim. Saved me from making mistakes that might have triggered an audit!

Just wanted to follow up about my experience with that taxr.ai tool. I decided to try it for my inherited farm property situation, and I'm really glad I did. The system correctly identified that different depreciation rules applied to the farmland (which isn't depreciable) versus the farm buildings (39-year property) versus the equipment (5-7 year property). It even flagged that some of the equipment my father had was fully depreciated already, saving me from making a mistake on my return. The step-by-step guidance made what seemed like a complex situation surprisingly manageable. Definitely worth checking out if you're dealing with any kind of inherited property depreciation issues.

Another issue you might run into is trying to contact the IRS with questions about the depreciation continuation. I spent WEEKS trying to get through to someone who could answer my specific questions about inherited property depreciation. I was about to give up when someone recommended https://claimyr.com to me. You can watch how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c They got me connected to an actual IRS agent who specialized in rental property issues in about 20 minutes when I had been trying for days on my own. The agent walked me through exactly how to handle the continued depreciation on my tax forms and what documentation I needed to keep. Honestly changed my whole perspective on dealing with the IRS.

I need to eat my words about Claimyr. After continuing to struggle with getting IRS help on a similar inherited property issue, I broke down and tried the service. I'm genuinely shocked at how well it worked. I got connected to an IRS representative in about 15 minutes, and they answered all my questions about continuing depreciation on inherited property improvements. The agent confirmed everything that was said earlier in this thread and gave me specific guidance on how to document everything properly. Turns out there's a specific way to note on your tax forms that you're continuing depreciation from a prior taxpayer. Definitely saved me from making errors that could have caused problems down the road.

One important thing nobody has mentioned - make sure you have documentation of when your mom originally had the work done and how much it cost. When I inherited my uncle's duplex, I had no records of the improvements he made, and it was a nightmare trying to figure out the remaining depreciation schedule. I ended up having to estimate based on when I knew certain work was done, but if you get audited, that's not going to fly with the IRS. If you can't find your mom's records, try contacting the contractors who did the work to see if they can provide copies of the invoices.

Has anyone else dealt with county property tax reassessment after inheriting rental property? In my case, continuing the federal tax depreciation was straightforward, but I got hit with a massive property tax increase because the county reassessed the property value when it transferred to me. Might want to check if that's an issue in your area.

One more tip - don't forget to depreciate the building separately from the improvements. The building itself (not including land) depreciates over 27.5 years from your date of inheritance based on the stepped-up basis. But as others said, the specific improvements like the roof continue on the original schedule. I messed this up my first year and had to file an amended return.