Capitalizing vs Deducting the cost of a new roof

[Paul Neubecker]

Hi,

I purchased a SFH for rental purposes that needed a new roof. I spent $10k putting the new roof on and have been discussing its treatment with my accountant. Seems like he is of the opinion it should be added to the basis of the property and depreciated over 27.5 years along with the rest of the building.

That seems like too long of a period of time since the roof will likely need to be replaced before then. I thought I had read somewhere a while back safe harbors for small taxpayers allowing maintenance expense under $10k to be taken immediately but I can't seem to find that with a quick google search, but at the very least shouldn't there be a way to depreciate the roof portion any quicker? Something like 10-15 years?  

Looking for any advice from someone who has already dealt with this issue.

Thanks!