Rental property tax question

[Ahmed Tausif Aijazi]

Hello all.

I am extremely new to real estate investing and closed a deal recently. It requires some fix-up after which I plan to rent it out. My questions is

1. Can I deduct the fix-up / repair costs on my taxes?

2. If yes, since I bought it in November and the repairs will take a month or so and finding a tenant will take a few more weeks so I am expecting to collect my first rent in January. Is it still possible to put all my repair costs in this year's tax return with a loss, having no income or should it go to next year's return or should I just leave it and do not mention on my tax return?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance