Depreciation Schedule
Understand how straight-line depreciation works for residential and commercial properties with year-by-year schedules.
How Straight-Line Depreciation Works
The IRS allows real estate investors to deduct the cost of their building (not the land) over a set recovery period. Residential rental property uses a 27.5-year recovery period, while commercial property uses 39 years. The annual deduction is simply the building value divided by the recovery period. This creates a "phantom loss" that reduces your taxable income even though you did not spend any additional cash. Note: real-property tax law uses the mid-month convention, where first-year depreciation depends on the month the property was placed in service. To keep inputs simple, this calculator uses a half-year approximation that assumes mid-year placement — close to mid-month for properties bought around June or July, and a rough estimate for other months.
- Residential rental: building value / 27.5 years = annual deduction
- Commercial property: building value / 39 years = annual deduction
- First and last year get partial deductions (simplified half-year split)
- Only the building depreciates, not the land underneath it
Building vs. Land Allocation
Determining how much of your purchase price is building vs. land is critical because only the building portion can be depreciated. Common methods include using the county tax assessment ratio, getting an independent appraisal, or using the 80/20 rule of thumb. A higher building allocation means a larger annual depreciation deduction and more tax savings.
- County tax assessor records provide building-to-land ratios
- Typical residential properties allocate 75-85% to building value
- Land-heavy properties (waterfront, downtown) may allocate only 50-60%
- The calculator lets you override the default allocation per property
Sample Output
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