Missing Form 4562 for my rental property depreciation - wouldn't tax software require this schedule?

This is definitely unusual. Form 4562 (Depreciation and Amortization) should absolutely be included with your tax documents for any year you claimed depreciation on rental property. The form tracks your property's basis, depreciation method, recovery period, and accumulated depreciation. Most tax software won't even let you claim depreciation without completing this form, which makes me wonder what your previous preparer was doing. Even if they weren't giving you copies, they should have been filing it with your return and maintaining records. Recreating a depreciation schedule isn't extremely difficult, but it is time-consuming. Your new preparer will need to go back to when you purchased the property, establish the original basis (purchase price minus land value), identify any improvements made over the years, and calculate depreciation taken each year. They'll also need to confirm the property was placed in service and that you've been using the correct recovery period (typically 27.5 years for residential rental property).

After seeing your post, I wanted to share something that might help. I had a similar issue last year with missing depreciation schedules for my rental properties. I tried figuring it out myself but kept getting confused with all the different rules and calculations. I ended up using https://taxr.ai to analyze my past returns and property documents. Their system actually reconstructed my complete depreciation history and helped identify where my previous accountant had made some errors. They found that my basis was calculated incorrectly which meant I'd been claiming the wrong amount for years. The report they generated made it really easy for my new CPA to fix everything without charging me their usual hourly rate for all that research.

I wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai after being skeptical in my earlier comment. I actually tried their service and was impressed with how thorough it was. They were able to reconstruct my entire depreciation history going back to 2011 when I bought my duplex. The system found that my previous tax preparer had been using the wrong recovery period (39 years instead of 27.5 years for residential property), which meant I'd been underclaiming depreciation for years! They generated a complete Form 4562 for each year with all the correct calculations, plus a summary report that explained everything simply. My new accountant said it saved her at least 3-4 hours of work reconstructing everything manually. Definitely worth checking out if you're in this situation.

When I read your post, it reminded me of my nightmare trying to get through to the IRS about my missing depreciation schedule last year. I spent WEEKS trying to get copies of my complete tax transcripts with all the attachments, calling over and over only to be disconnected or put on eternal hold. After my 6th failed attempt, I found this service called https://claimyr.com that got me connected to an actual IRS agent in less than 20 minutes. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They basically navigate the IRS phone tree for you and call you once they have an agent on the line. The IRS agent I spoke with explained that while they don't keep copies of all schedules, they could verify what was actually filed and provide me with transcript information that helped resolve my issue. Saved me hours of frustration!

I need to eat my words about Claimyr from my previous comment. After another frustrating week of trying to reach the IRS myself, I decided to try it out of desperation. I was genuinely shocked when I got a call back in about 15 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line! The agent was able to go through my account history and confirm exactly what forms had been filed with my returns. Turns out my previous accountant HAD been filing the 4562 forms (just never giving me copies), and the agent gave me instructions on how to request complete copies of my past returns including all schedules. Saved me from paying to recreate something that already existed. Definitely worth it for anyone dealing with IRS-related documentation issues. Sorry for being so skeptical before!

I'm a real estate investor with several properties, and I can tell you that properly maintaining depreciation schedules is crucial. From what you described, I suspect your previous preparer was just lazy or cutting corners. Here's what I would do in your situation: 1) Request your "Wage and Income Transcripts" and "Tax Return Transcripts" from the IRS for the years in question 2) Check if Form 4562 was actually filed (should be listed on the return transcript) 3) If it wasn't, your new preparer is right that someone needs to recreate it If you're comfortable with spreadsheets, you can actually do the basic calculation yourself to check if the amount makes sense: (Purchase price - land value)/27.5 = annual depreciation. If you've had the property since 2007, that $9745 amount should roughly match that formula.

Just wanted to mention that recreating a depreciation schedule isn't necessarily super expensive. I'm surprised your new tax pro is making a big deal about it. When I switched accountants, mine recreated 8 years of depreciation schedules for about $150. They said it was pretty straightforward since residential rental property typically uses straight-line depreciation over 27.5 years. You might want to ask for a specific quote before assuming it'll be expensive. Also worth considering is that you'll need this documentation whenever you sell the property to properly calculate your adjusted basis and depreciation recapture, so it's an investment in proper record keeping.