Depreciable Property
Let’s start with what the IRS considers depreciable property:
- It must be owned by you or your business. But there’s also an exception: If you don’t own a property but make capital improvements to it, you can still depreciate the value of the improvements.
- You must make use of this property for your business or in an income-producing activity. If you also use the asset for personal use (say you have a home business), you can only depreciate that portion of the asset dedicated to business use.
- It must have a “determinable useful life” that is greater than one year.
In other words, what’s generally depreciable is income-producing property that you own and make use of for more than a year that typically will wear out or decline in value over time.
Depreciable property includes machines, vehicles, office buildings, buildings you rent out for income (both residential and commercial property), and other equipment, including computers and other technology. In the case of property that you’re renting, you’re considered as “owning” the improvements you’ve made on it and eligible to depreciate them, so long as these are enjoyed for longer than one year. Depreciable property can be either tangible like the assets mentioned above, or intangible – patents, copyrights, computer software, and the like.
What Can’t You Depreciate?
What can’t you depreciate? As discussed in the Quick Summary, you can’t depreciate property for personal use, inventory, or assets held for investment purposes. You can’t depreciate assets that don’t lose their value over time – or that you’re not currently making use of to produce income. These include:
- Land
- Collectibles like art, coins, or memorabilia
- Investments like stocks and bonds
- Buildings that you aren’t actively renting for income
- Personal property, which includes clothing, and your personal residence and car
- Any property placed in service and used for less than one year
Don’t forget, in terms of depreciation, that your cost basis of an asset should include not only the purchase price, but also additional costs like sales taxes, freight charges, and any installation and testing fees.
And finally, if you improve depreciable property, that improvement, at least for tax purposes, should be treated as a separate depreciable property. This would occur if you make an addition or partial replacement to a property that adds to its value. If, on the other hand, you’re just repairing a property, you can typically deduct this as a business expense.
