Rental Property Tax Deductions Checklist (2026)

Use this checklist at year-end to make sure you've captured every rental expense before you or your preparer fill out Schedule E. Each item says what qualifies and the one rule most likely to trip you up; the full explanations are in the landlord tax deductions guide, and the underlying IRS rules are in Publication 527.

Work through it one property at a time. If an item applies, find the statement, receipt or invoice before you check it off.

Financing costs

• ☐ Mortgage interest. From Form 1098 or your lender's year-end statement. Interest on refinanced cash you used for personal purposes doesn't count.
• ☐ Points. Deducted over the loan term, not all at once (Pub 527). Include this year's share for every rental loan, and any leftover points if a loan was paid off.
• ☐ Other interest on debt used for the rental, such as a credit line used only for rental purchases.
• ☐ Loan fees capitalized. Mortgage commissions, abstract and recording fees for the loan go into basis, not this year's interest.

Taxes and insurance

• ☐ Property taxes paid this year on the rental. Assessments for new streets, sidewalks or sewer lines go into basis instead.
• ☐ Insurance premiums for landlord, liability, flood or umbrella coverage on the rental. If you prepaid more than one year, deduct only this year's share.

Repairs and maintenance

• ☐ Repairs that keep the property in working order: leaks, broken fixtures, appliance service, patching.
• ☐ Recurring maintenance: lawn care, pest control, gutter cleaning, HVAC servicing, snow removal.
• ☐ Cleaning and turnover between tenants.
• ☐ Small items under the de minimis safe harbor. If you elect it for the year, items up to $2,500 per invoice or item can be expensed (IRS tangible property regulations FAQ). The election is a statement attached to your timely filed return.
• ☐ Anything over a few hundred dollars reviewed against the betterment, restoration and adaptation tests. See repairs vs improvements for rental property.

Depreciation

• ☐ Building depreciation over 27.5 years, mid-month convention, land excluded (Pub 946).
• ☐ Improvements placed in service this year (roof, furnace, water heater, addition) set up as new 27.5-year items.
• ☐ Appliances, carpet and furniture (5-year) and fences, driveways and landscaping (15-year) bought this year. Qualified property acquired after January 19, 2025 gets 100% bonus depreciation unless you elect out (Pub 946).
• ☐ Prior-year depreciation carried forward on every asset still in service. Skipped depreciation still reduces your basis.

For the math and a worked example, see the rental property depreciation guide.

Management, legal and professional fees

• ☐ Property management fees and leasing or tenant-placement commissions.
• ☐ Legal fees for leases, notices and evictions on the rental.
• ☐ Tax preparation fees for the rental part of last year's return (Schedule E, Part I), which Pub 527 lets you deduct this year.
• ☐ Bookkeeping and software used for the rental.

Operating costs

• ☐ Utilities you pay: water, sewer, trash, gas, electric, internet provided to tenants.
• ☐ HOA or condo dues on a rental unit. Special assessments for improvements aren't deductible but may be depreciable.
• ☐ Advertising: listing fees, signs, photos.
• ☐ Tenant screening costs you pay.
• ☐ Supplies: locks, smoke detector batteries, filters, light bulbs.
• ☐ Postage and certified mail for notices.
• ☐ Vacancy-period expenses while the unit was held out for rent. Lost rent itself isn't deductible.

Travel and home office

• ☐ Local mileage to collect rent, show units, or manage and maintain the property. The 2026 IRS business rate is 72.5 cents per mile for January 1 to June 30 and 76 cents per mile for July 1 to December 31 (IRS standard mileage rates). Trips from home to the rental are commuting unless your home is your principal place of business.
• ☐ Overnight travel to an out-of-town rental whose main purpose was managing or maintaining it, not improving it.
• ☐ Home office if you have a space used regularly and exclusively for your rental business. The IRS simplified option is $5 per square foot, up to 300 square feet.

Rental income to double-check

• ☐ All rent received, including advance rent in the year you received it (IRS Topic 414).
• ☐ Security deposits you kept for damage or early termination, which become income that year.
• ☐ Expenses tenants paid for you (for example, a tenant pays a repair bill and deducts it from rent), counted as income and then as the matching expense.
• ☐ Lease cancellation payments.

Filing and compliance

• ☐ Form 1099-NEC for contractors and attorneys, if your rental is a trade or business. The threshold is $2,000 for payments made after December 31, 2025 (IRS Form 1099-NEC FAQ).
• ☐ Passive loss limits checked if the rental shows a loss. Active participants can use up to $25,000 of loss against other income, phased out between $100,000 and $150,000 of modified AGI (Pub 527).
• ☐ QBI safe harbor statement attached, if you're relying on Rev. Proc. 2019-38 (separate books, 250+ hours of rental services, time logs).
• ☐ Safe harbor election statements (de minimis, small taxpayer) attached to the return if you're using them.

Records to keep with this checklist

• ☐ Closing statement for each property (basis and land allocation)
• ☐ Bank and card statements for the rental account
• ☐ Receipts and invoices, with a note on any repair-versus-improvement call
• ☐ Mileage log
• ☐ Signed leases, renewals and move-in/move-out checklists

A blank move-in/move-out checklist helps document condition, which supports both deposit deductions and repair records. To see how these deductions change your after-tax return, run the numbers in the rental property calculator.

Sources

Official sources cited above (checked 2026-10-26):

• IRS Publication 527, Residential Rental Property
• IRS Publication 946, How To Depreciate Property
• IRS Topic 414, Rental Income and Expenses
• IRS tangible property regulations FAQ
• IRS standard mileage rates
• IRS simplified option for home office deduction
• IRS Form 1099-NEC and independent contractors FAQ
• Revenue Procedure 2019-38, rental real estate safe harbor