can tp deduct depreciation for a rental house that was vacant but available to rent?had no rental income.

[Young-TP]

I guess what I'm asking is can a loss entirely due to depreciation allowed on a schedule E? Rental was available for rent but due to COVID no one rented it. So it is zero days rented on the form and zero days used for personal use.

[sjrcpa]

If it was available for rent, yes. But aren't there also expenses for utilities, insurance, grounds maintenance, etc.?

[BobKamman]

Anyone ever notice the gibberish in the Schedule E instructions?  What they should say is, "We're just interested in days of personal use here, anything else is a 'Fair Rental Day' even if the place is vacant while you're trying to rent it."  But what they actually say is that it's OK even if you're living in it, as long as you tried to rent it but couldn't:

Do not count as personal use:

• Any day you spent working substantially full time repairing and maintaining the unit, even if family members used it for recreational purposes on that day; or

• Any days you used the unit as your main home before or after renting it or offering it for rent, if you rented or tried to rent it for at least 12 consecutive months (or for a period of less than 12 consecutive months at the end of which you sold or exchanged it).