Rentals: What Preparers Are Missing

2 hours CE/CPE

Live webinar, no exam required! (CTEC, EA, CPA, and unlicensed preparers)

September 17, 2026 | 10am to 12pm PST

Rentals are just income minus expenses on Schedule E, right? Not when a client’s sister stays at the cabin for a week, or when an entrepreneur rents their own building to their business. Tax mistakes for rental activities are expensive.

This session covers the rental rules preparers get wrong most often: which days of personal use cost a client the vacation home deduction, when a rental belongs somewhere other than Schedule E, how real estate professional status and grouping elections actually work, when a repair is really an improvement, and how to defer gain on the way out.

Every rule comes with a case study showing what it costs when it gets missed, so you’ll know what to look for on the next rental return you open.

Learning Objectives

2. Distinguish rental activities subject to the hobby loss rules from those subject to the §280A vacation home limits, and determine when a rental activity must be reported on Schedule C rather than Schedule E.

3. Identify the requirements for real estate professional status and the grouping elections available to rental owners, including the self-rental recharacterization rule and the conditions for late election relief.

4. Differentiate a deductible repair from a depreciable improvement by identifying the unit of property and the designated building systems, and determine which rental costs qualify for §179 expensing and bonus depreciation, including the correction of missed depreciation on Form 3115.

5. Understand the tax strategies for like-kind exchanges and involuntary conversions, and determine the reporting treatment of a Delaware statutory trust interest.