The archive
Every article, in one place.
The complete library — all 50 articles, organized by topic. For the highlights, head back to the blog.
Fundamentals
What Is Cost Segregation? A Plain-English Guide for Owners
Cost segregation splits your building into 5-, 7-, and 15-year assets you can deduct now. What a study finds, what it yields, and where it stops working.
How Does a Cost Segregation Study Work? The Full Process
How does a cost segregation study work? The full process, from feasibility through site inspection to report delivery, with real timelines and your role.
Is Cost Segregation Worth It? A Five-Test Decision Screen
Is cost segregation worth it for your property? Run this 5-test screen on basis, usability, tax rate, hold period, and asset mix before you pay for a study.
Cost Segregation Study Cost: Real Ranges and What Drives Them
What does a cost segregation study cost? Real fee ranges by property size, the six drivers behind the number, and why contingency pricing is a red flag.
What Is the Minimum Property Value for Cost Segregation?
There is no minimum property value for cost segregation in the tax code. The threshold is about $500,000 of depreciable basis. Here is the break-even math.
What You Need for a Cost Segregation Study: A Checklist
The exact documents a cost segregation study requires, why each one matters, and what your engineer does when one is missing. A checklist you can work from.
Ten Cost Segregation Myths, and What the Law Actually Says
An audit red flag? Only for big buildings? Does recapture cancel it out? Ten cost segregation myths dismantled, with the authority and math behind each one.
Depreciation Law & OBBBA
Bonus Depreciation in 2026: A Property Owner's Complete Guide
100% bonus depreciation is permanent again, but only for property acquired after January 19, 2025. The 2026 rates, the two elections, and when to opt out.
What OBBBA Changed for Real Estate Depreciation, and What It Didn't
A practitioner briefing on OBBBA depreciation changes for real estate: the January 19, 2025 hinge, the new elections, §168(n), §461(l), and what did not move.
MACRS Depreciation Explained: Recovery Periods and Methods
How MACRS depreciation actually works: recovery periods, declining balance versus straight line, the conventions, and what $200,000 does on three clocks.
5-, 7-, and 15-Year Property Examples: The Classification Guide
A practitioner's catalog of 5, 7, and 15 year property examples, plus the Whiteco and HCA legal tests that decide which bucket an asset actually belongs in.
Qualified Improvement Property: The Complete Practitioner Guide
Qualified improvement property explained: the definition, the three exclusions, 15-year bonus-eligible treatment, and how to classify a renovation dollar.
Section 179 vs. Bonus Depreciation: Which One Should You Use?
Section 179 vs bonus depreciation in 2026: the caps, the income limit, what each one reaches, and the ordering rule that decides which to claim first.
Section 168(n) Qualified Production Property: A Practitioner's Guide
Qualified production property under 168(n) allows a 100% deduction on factory real property. The tests, the deadlines, the exclusions, and the allocation work.
Mechanics, Compliance & Provider Selection
Land Allocation in a Cost Segregation Study: Getting It Right
Land allocation is the first number in every cost segregation study and the one owners get wrong. The four methods, a $180,000 swing, and the 15-year trap.
Look-Back Cost Segregation: Claiming Missed Depreciation
Bought years ago and skipped the study? A look back cost segregation study claims every missed dollar of depreciation this year, with no amended returns.
Form 3115 and Cost Segregation: The Practitioner's Guide
How to file Form 3115 for a cost segregation catch-up: automatic change, duplicate filing, the 481(a) computation, and the workpapers that make it defensible.
The §481(a) Adjustment in Cost Segregation, Line by Line
A section 481(a) adjustment is just cumulative missed depreciation. Here is the year-by-year computation, the timing rule, and the limits that can shrink it.
The IRS Cost Segregation Audit Techniques Guide, Read Closely
The IRS cost segregation audit techniques guide is the rulebook your examiner holds. Here are the 13 quality elements, the six methods ranked, and a checklist
Does Cost Segregation Increase Your Audit Risk? An Honest Answer
Cost segregation audit risk comes from weak studies, not the strategy itself. Here are the six red flags examiners look for and the defense file to hold.
Engineering-Based vs. Software Cost Segregation: The Difference
An engineering based cost segregation study measures and prices your actual assets. Software models them from other buildings. See where that gap shows up.
How to Choose a Cost Segregation Company: 12 Questions to Ask
Twelve questions to ask any cost segregation company, the answer you want to hear, and the answer that should end the call. Plus the red flags to walk from.
Exit, Recapture & Risk
Depreciation Recapture After Cost Segregation: The Real Math
Does the IRS take it all back when you sell? Here is exactly how depreciation recapture works after cost segregation, with the present-value math both ways.
Section 1245 vs. 1250 Property: How Classification Works
Section 1245 vs 1250 property decides recapture at 37% or 25%. The Whiteco and HCA tests, applied to four disputed items, with the sale math shown.
Cost Segregation and 1031 Exchanges: Where the Value Is
Cost segregation and a 1031 exchange work together, but only if you know where carryover basis ends and excess basis begins. Three scenarios, with the math.
Selling in Two Years? When a Cost Segregation Study Still Pays
Selling soon? Here is the break-even math on a cost segregation short hold period: when the deferral beats the fee and the recapture, and when it does not.
Step-Up in Basis: How Cost Segregation Becomes Permanent
How a step up in basis erases depreciation recapture at death, turning a cost segregation deferral into permanent savings, and where that argument stops.
State Conformity: The Variable That Shrinks Your Client's Benefit
State bonus depreciation conformity can cut a projected cost seg benefit sharply, but shorter MACRS lives usually still flow through. Here is the mechanic.
Who Can Actually Use the Deduction
Passive Activity Loss Rules: Can You Actually Use the Deduction?
The passive activity loss rules for real estate decide whether your cost segregation deduction is usable this year. Answer this before you commission a study.
Real Estate Professional Status: The Two Tests, and Who Passes
Real estate professional status has two tests under §469(c)(7), and the second disqualifies most people. Here is the hours math, election, and records.
The Short-Term Rental Tax Loophole: How It Actually Works
The short term rental tax loophole offsets W-2 income without REPS. Here is the seven-day rule, the material participation math, and where owners fail it.
Material Participation for Short-Term Rentals: The Time Log
Material participation for a short term rental is won or lost on your time log. The three tests that matter, what hours count, and the log format that holds.
Cost Segregation for Airbnb and Vrbo Owners: What Reclassifies
Cost segregation on an Airbnb reclassifies more than a long-term rental because the property is furnished. Here is the room-by-room walk and first-year math.
The Excess Business Loss Limitation: The Ceiling After §469
The excess business loss limitation caps 2026 losses at $256,000 single and $512,000 joint, down from 2025. What it does to a big cost segregation deduction.
Cost Segregation in Syndications and Partnerships: The K-1 Reality
Cost segregation in a syndication flows to your K-1, but a limited partner usually cannot use it in year one. Here is the real math for sponsors and LPs.
Timing, Lifecycle & Adjacent Strategies
When to Order a Cost Segregation Study: A Timing Playbook
Wondering when to do a cost segregation study? The four timing windows, the filing calendar, and how to land the deduction in the year it is worth the most.
Cost Segregation on New Construction: Build the Study In
Cost segregation on new construction beats any acquisition study because your actual cost records exist. What to capture during the build and how to allocate.
Cost Segregation for Tenant Improvements and Renovations
Cost segregation on tenant improvements, line by line: classify a $600,000 office buildout, catch the 5-year property, and write off what you tore out.
Partial Asset Disposition Election: The Most-Missed Write-Off
The partial asset disposition election under §1.168(i)-8: write off a replaced roof's remaining basis, the three basis methods, and a full worked computation.
Repair vs. Improvement: The Tangible Property Regulations
Repair vs improvement under the tangible property regulations: the building systems rule, the RABI test, three safe harbors, and a worked $310,000 example.
Property Types
Cost Segregation on Apartment Buildings: What Multifamily Yields
A cost segregation apartment building study typically shifts 20-30% of basis into 5- and 15-year lives. See what an engineer finds in your units and on site.
Cost Segregation on Single-Family Rentals: When It Actually Pays
Cost segregation on a single family rental usually does not pay for itself. Here is the honest break-even math and the five cases where it genuinely works.
Cost Segregation for Self-Storage: The Most Underestimated Asset
Cost segregation on self storage routinely hits the top of the range, because the asset is mostly pavement and light metal. Here is what an engineer prices.
Cost Segregation for Hotels: Why Hospitality Leads the Range
Cost segregation on a hotel routinely reclassifies 30-45%+ of basis. See the FF&E, kitchen, and site items engineers price, plus the PIP cycle owners miss.
Cost Segregation for Restaurants: The Highest-Yielding Asset
Cost segregation on a restaurant often reclassifies 40%+ of basis: the kitchen, MEP, and front of house are equipment, not building. See what qualifies.
Cost Segregation for Medical and Dental Office Buildings
A cost segregation medical office study often reclassifies 30-45% of basis. See the operatory, imaging, and MEP assets engineers find, plus self-rental risk.
Cost Segregation for Warehouses and Industrial Buildings
A plain cost segregation warehouse study often reclassifies just 10-18%. See what moves it higher, why the truck court matters, and how §168(n) changes it.
Cost Segregation for Retail Property and Shopping Centers
Cost segregation on retail property pays twice: at purchase and at every re-tenanting. See the site assets, QIP, and disposition losses that drive the result.
Partners
Cost Segregation for CPAs: A Practice Guide to Client Screening
A working guide to cost segregation for CPAs: how to screen your book, vet an outside study, run the Form 3115 catch-up, and know when to tell a client no.
The Cost Segregation Referral Program for Agents and Brokers
Earn 20% on every closed study, double the industry standard. Learn the 60-second qualifier, three scripts that stay on the right side of the tax advice line.