Rehab on a distressed rental / Tax

[Anthony Wright]

In July I purchased another rental in the East Sugar House neighborhood in SLC UT. The home had not been renovated/updated since the 1950's. I gutted the home, redid all of the electrical, plumbing, bathrooms, kitchen, flooring, and many other structural and cosmetic changes. Now that it is tax season, I am curious how I can best reduce my tax liability. I understand that a capital expense is supposed to be depreciated, but can i do accelerated depreciation on the repairs, or do i need to amortize them over 27.5 years. Also with only owning the home for 6 months of the year do i only do 50% of the normal depreciation?  Does anyone have any good guidance on what counts as an improvement vs a repair? And what supporting documentation would I need to provide to the IRS if i am audited?