https://turbotax.intuit.com Home Repairs and Tax Deductions

Beginning in 2018, only casualty losses suffered in declared federal disaster areas are deductible.

Generally the IRS doesn’t allow you to deduct the cost of repairing your home, but there are a few exceptions. Find out which home improvements and repairs are tax deductible by watching this helpful TurboTax tax tip video.

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Video transcript:

Hi, I'm Richard from TurboTax with some information about home repairs and how they relate to your federal income taxes.

Generally the IRS doesn’t allow you to deduct the cost of repairing your home, but there are a few exceptions.

One exception is if you suffer a casualty. Casualties usually cover sudden, unexpected events that damage your property, like a hurricane. These are events that you have no control over and are in no way your fault.

You can claim a separate deduction for each casualty event. For example, if you are hit by a hurricane and then by a landslide in the same year, you can deduct the repair costs for each event separately.

There are numerous reductions however, especially if you have insurance to help cover the damage.

Another way to deduct the cost of repairs is if you rent the home to tenants. But you'll need to report all rental income from the property in order to deduct the related expenses.

Finally, some home improvements may be deductible, especially if you've improved your home's energy efficiency.

These include:

Solar panels that generate electricity for your home.

Solar powered water heaters for use inside the home. At least half of your home’s water heating capacity needs to be solar.

Wind turbines that generate up to 100 kilowatts of power for your home.

Geothermal heat pumps that meet federal Energy Star guidelines
Fuel cells that rely on a renewable resource to generate power. They must generate a half kilowatt of power.

These credits are good through 2016, but expire the beginning of 2017, except for the solar credits which are good through 2019 and then are reduced each year through the end of 2021.

Claim the credits by filing Form 5695 with your tax return. Remember with TurboTax, we’ll ask you simple questions and fill out the right forms for you.

For more information about this and other tax topics, visit TurboTax.com.