100% bonus depreciation question

[Joe R.]

Can I claim 100% bonus depreciation for tax year 2018 on a new air conditioner for a residential rental property?

[Paul Caputo]

Nope. An air conditioner is necessary for the general operation and maintenance of the building since it provides human comfort, making it real property. You'll have to depreciate it over 27.5 years. What you can do is fully expense any remaining depreciation on the old air conditioner that was removed, and since that's a retired asset there's no recapture. 

There are a lot of things bonus depreciation does apply to, but not an A/C unit in a rental. If it was nonresidential you'd be able to use section 179 to get the same result. 

I'm not a CPA, but I do know the depreciation rules.