Can I deduct appliances when converting my house to a rental property?

You're asking a great question about depreciation when converting to a rental! You definitely can depreciate appliances separately from the building structure, and you don't necessarily need a formal cost segregation study for this basic level of separation. The 27.5-year depreciation is for the building structure itself, while appliances and other personal property inside the rental can be depreciated over shorter periods (typically 5 years for appliances). This isn't double-counting - it's actually proper asset classification. For your partner's new dryer, you can absolutely depreciate it separately over 5 years. Just make sure you have documentation of the purchase price and installation costs. The basis would be the fair market value at the time of conversion to rental use (which would be close to the purchase price if it's recent). Keep good records of when each appliance was purchased and what it cost. You'll report the building on one line of your depreciation schedule and each major appliance on separate lines with their appropriate class lives and depreciation methods.

After dealing with a similar situation last year, I tried using TurboTax but got confused with all the depreciation options. I eventually found this service called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that really helped me sort through my rental property depreciation issues. They analyzed my property documents and identified all the items I could separately depreciate without needing an expensive cost segregation study. What's nice is they have tax experts who specialize in rental property conversions and know exactly what the IRS looks for with these deductions. They even helped me establish fair market values for appliances I didn't have receipts for, which sounds like it might help in your situation with some of the older items.

Just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai after I posted my skeptical comment. I decided to try them out with my duplex conversion and I'm actually impressed. They identified about $22,000 of components that could be depreciated on accelerated schedules - things I wouldn't have thought of like water heaters, carpet, window treatments, and even the garage door opener. The report they provided made it super easy to enter everything correctly in my tax software, and they explained exactly why each item qualified for faster depreciation. They even flagged that my HVAC system could be depreciated over 15 years instead of 27.5. Honestly saved me way more than I expected in the first year of rental operation.

Has anyone tried calling the IRS about this? I tried for THREE DAYS to get through to someone who could answer a similar question about my garage conversion to rental space. Then I found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes. They have this demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent confirmed that you don't need a formal cost segregation study for basic appliance separation, but you DO need to keep detailed records of the value of each item at the time of conversion. She said photos with model numbers plus research on comparable values is sufficient documentation in most cases.

Has anyone tried calling the IRS about this? I tried for THREE DAYS to get through to someone who could answer a similar question about my garage conversion to rental space. Then I found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes. They have this demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent confirmed that you don't need a formal cost segregation study for basic appliance separation, but you DO need to keep detailed records of the value of each item at the time of conversion. She said photos with model

I need to apologize for my skeptical comment about Claimyr. I was completely wrong and I'm actually shocked this service exists. After posting that comment, I decided to try it because I've been trying to reach the IRS about a rental property issue for weeks. They got me through to an IRS representative in about 22 minutes when I had previously waited on hold for over 2 hours and never reached anyone. The agent answered my question about separating out components of a rental property, and confirmed I could depreciate my recently purchased washer/dryer over 5 years without any formal cost segregation. For anyone converting a property to rental use and struggling with these depreciation questions, this is legitimately worth it just for the time saved.

I converted my home to a rental last year and separated out all major appliances without doing a cost segregation study. I just took photos of everything, noted model numbers, and researched current values for similar used items. I listed them all separately on Form 4562. My accountant said this approach is fine for obvious personal property items like appliances, but wouldn't work for trying to break out things like the electrical system or plumbing from the building structure. Just my experience!

Quick question - when you convert to rental, do you use the original purchase price of appliances as the basis, or the fair market value at the time of conversion? My stove is 10 years old but still works fine.

Great question about appliance depreciation! I went through this exact situation when I converted my condo to a rental two years ago. You absolutely can depreciate appliances separately from the building without needing a formal cost segregation study - this is standard practice for clearly identifiable personal property. The key is proper documentation. For your partner's new dryer, you're in great shape since it was recently purchased. For older appliances without receipts, I used online marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist to find comparable used items of the same brand/model to establish fair market value at conversion. One tip: take detailed photos of all appliances with model numbers visible before placing the property in service as a rental. This creates a solid record for the IRS showing what was included and their condition at conversion. The 5-year depreciation schedule for appliances will definitely give you better tax benefits in the early years compared to the 27.5-year building depreciation. Just make sure to keep everything well-documented on your Form 4562!