My Mother moved in with me a year ago. Can i refile my house as a partial rental and claim depreciation?

Question

My Mother moved in with me a year ago. Can i refile my house as a partial rental and claim depreciation?

Answer 1

If you claim depreciation you have to live in your house until it is fully depreciable (40yrs?) or else when you sell it you have to add the depreciation back in.

Answer 2

Is she paying you rent?  If so, is that rent at "Fair Market Value" for your area?

If the answer to either question is "NO", then you can not take any deductions.

Answer 3

If you are charging her market value to live there (what an unrelated person would pay for a similar space) then yes you could take depreciation on part of your house, but you realize you would then also have to claim the rent as income, and would have to take the depreciation into account if you ever sell the house.

In most situations like yours, even if your mom is giving you some money toward expenses, the situation is a sharing of expenses, not a rental venture with profit as the intent.

Answer 4

You would have to have it rezoned and stuff like that. If your mother is not working you can file her as a dependent on your taxes, but other than that it wouldn't help you with any home owner income.  If she is paying rent you do not have to file this as a taxed income, unless she is living in s separate part of the house than you are. then you must have it rezoned for rental property.