Cost Segregation Tutorials

Hands-on walkthroughs grouped by skill level. Each tutorial pairs a specific tax mechanic with a worked numerical example and a deep-link into the live calculator with values prefilled. Cite primary IRS sources throughout — never marketing pages.

Beginner 10 tutorials

• What 100% Bonus Depreciation Actually Means

  Plain-English explanation of bonus depreciation, the OBBBA shift on January 19, 2025, and a simple example showing the dollar effect.

• Free Feasibility vs. Paid Engineering Study: Which Do You Need?

  Honest comparison of a free cost-seg feasibility estimator vs. a paid engineering study. What each produces, what each costs, and where each one fits.

• What's a Depreciable Basis?

  The IRC §168 starting point in plain English. How depreciable basis is built from purchase price, land value, and capitalized settlement costs.

• How to Read Your Cost-Seg Feasibility Estimate

  Section-by-section walkthrough of the feasibility estimate result page — headline numbers, asset breakdown, 10-year schedule, and the three guard-rail callouts.

• Tax Bracket Basics for Real-Estate Investors

  2026 federal income tax brackets, marginal vs. effective rate, and why your bracket — not your average rate — drives the cost-seg savings figure.

• Land vs. Improvement Value: What to Enter

  How to find the right land allocation for cost segregation. County appraisal district guidance, closing-disclosure tips, and IRS scrutiny zones.

• Will I Qualify for Cost Segregation?

  An eligibility flowchart for cost segregation. Property type, basis size, holding period, and tax-bracket factors that determine whether the math pencils.

• 5-Year vs. 7-Year vs. 15-Year vs. 27.5-Year Property

  A visual table of which assets fall into each MACRS recovery class, with simple examples for residential rentals. Why the class drives the timing benefit.

• What Is Cost Segregation in 2 Minutes

  Plain-English intro to cost segregation for first-time investors. What it is, how it accelerates depreciation, who it fits, and where the IRS draws the lines.

• How to Use Our Cost Segregation Calculator

  Step-by-step walkthrough of the TaxProtestTx cost-seg feasibility calculator. Six wizard steps, what to enter, and a deep-link example for a 2026 rental.

Intermediate 10 tutorials

• Adjusting Your Cost-Seg Estimate for a High-End Finish Property

  How the finish_level field changes your 5-year allocation, why per-item upgrades get scaled to 30%, and how to model a luxury rental without double-counting.

• Look-Back Cost Seg for a 2020 Purchase: a Walkthrough

  How a 2020 acquisition rolls 6 years of unclaimed bonus depreciation into a §481(a) catch-up on a 2026 Form 3115. Worked example at 100% bonus and 32% bracket.

• Cost Seg on a Q4 Purchase: the Mid-Quarter Convention Explained

  How a single-property October-December acquisition triggers the §168(d)(3) mid-quarter convention, what the Pub 946 Table A-5 values do to year 1, and a worked example.

• Renovation Cost-Seg Add-On: When You Do a Rehab Mid-Hold

  How a mid-hold renovation creates a separately-depreciable asset, the partial asset disposition election under §1.168(i)-8, and a worked walkthrough.

• Settlement Costs in Cost-Seg Basis (Treas. Reg. §1.263)

  Which closing-statement line items capitalize into depreciable basis, which expense immediately, and how the calculator handles the settlement_costs field.

• Cost Seg on an Airbnb With the 7-Day Rule (a Walkthrough)

  How an STR with an average rental period of 4 days clears the §469(c)(2) carve-out, why 8-day averages get treated as passive, and a worked example at 100% bonus.

• Look-Back Cost Seg for a 2018 Rental: a Walkthrough

  How a 2018 purchase qualifies for 100% bonus on the §481(a) catch-up, the Form 3115 mechanics, and a worked example computed across 8 years on the wrong schedule.

• Pool, Spa, Outdoor Kitchen: How Features Change Your Cost-Seg Estimate

  How in-ground pools, spas, outdoor kitchens, and decks land in the 15-year land improvement bucket, with worked examples and the percentages the calculator applies.

• Large Lot Adjustments (>0.5 Acre): More 15-Year Land Improvements

  How a lot bigger than 0.5 acre adds basis to the 15-year bucket through site-work assumptions: drainage, grading, paths, perimeter fence, irrigation.

• Detached Structures: Barn, ADU, Detached Garage in Cost Seg

  How a detached barn, garage, or ADU shows up as a 15-year land improvement bump, how the detached_sqft scaling works, and a worked example.

Advanced 10 tutorials

• AMT and Cost Segregation: When Accelerated Depreciation Triggers AMT Preference

  How §55 AMT, §56 preferences, and §59(e) interact with cost segregation, with a worked example showing when accelerated depreciation creates an AMT preference item.

• §1031 Carryover Basis Interaction With Reclassification: Sequencing Matters

  Worked walkthrough on whether to commission a cost-seg study before or after a §1031 exchange — with carryover basis math and a 5-year horizon NPV.

• §1245 Recapture Math on a 3-Year Flip

  Full worked NPV on a 3-year STR flip with cost segregation: bonus depreciation forward, ordinary-rate recapture back, and the after-tax cash net.

• State Conformity to §168(k): CA, NY, NJ Non-Conformity Table

  How California, New York, and New Jersey decouple from federal bonus depreciation, with worked state-tax addbacks and a quick reference table.

• §163(j) ADS Election Impact on a Leveraged Property

  Worked walkthrough of when the §163(j) interest limit forces an ADS election, what bonus depreciation looks like under ADS, and the year-1 swing on a $1M leveraged STR.

• Mid-Month Convention Math for §1250 Building Depreciation

  How the mid-month convention under IRC §168(d)(2) works for residential and nonresidential real property — with the (12.5 - month) / 12 formula and a worked Year-1 example.

• STR + W-2 Income: When the Loophole Opens

  Mechanics of the short-term rental + W-2 strategy: §469(c)(2) carve-out, the seven material-participation tests, and where the audit risk concentrates.

• Form 3115 Walk-Through With a Real Example

  Line-by-line Form 3115 worked example for a 2022 rental look-back, including DCN 7, the §481(a) adjustment, and the duplicate-copy filing path.

• Mid-Quarter Q4 Convention Math: When §168(d)(3) Kicks In

  When mid-quarter convention applies to a single-property cost-seg, how Tables A-5 and A-6 differ from the half-year tables, and a worked Q4 example.

• §469(c)(7) Two-Prong REPS Test: Drilling Into Both Prongs

  Deep dive on the 750-hour and majority-services prongs of real-estate professional status, with time-tracking templates and audit-defense posture for cost segregation.