can $42,000 home improvements be claimed as an expense. what are the different enxpenses that can be claimed?

Question

i did a lot of home imporovements. what can be claimed as a business and also a personal expense. my residence is in nj and i also have another property that i rent out in ny

Answer 1

If this is your principal residence then nothing can be claimed as business expense. If you claim your home office, then technically the percentage of the house that is used as office could be improved. Say, you have a 3000 sq. feet house, and you have a 200 sq. feet office, that you claim as your home office expense on your income tax, then 1/15 of your expenses i.e. heating, etc. are business expenses, you also get to depreciate that portion of the house. So, if you spent 42,000 on improvements and those are long term improvements, than you could possibly capitalize 1/15 of it, and then depreciate... Do you still want to do it? I think the paperwork nightmare is going to kill you to give you a 100 per year deduction.
What you spend on your rental property is deductible in general, although long term improvements i.e. floors, painting, etc. are subject for capitalization and depreciation over various periods.
Examples: Appliances are depreciated over 5 year period, but new carpet I think is 10 years.

Answer 2

only those subject to your rental