The property
A 9,200 square foot dental practice building acquired in 2015 for $3,070,000, land allocated at $420,000, leaving $2,650,000 of depreciable basis. Eleven operatories, on-site lab, digital imaging suite with lead shielding, 46-space lot with covered patient drop-off.
Real estate held in an LLC, practice operated in a separate S corporation, owner materially participating in both.
What had been claimed
Straight line over 39 years from 2015 through 2025. Cumulative depreciation of roughly $726,000 by the end of 2025.
What should have been claimed
5-year property — $560,000. Operatory casework and countertops, dedicated electrical and isolated grounds, equipment power drops, medical gas, nitrous and vacuum piping and manifolds, compressed air, lead shielding at the imaging suite, specialty plumbing at each operatory and the lab, sterilisation suite casework and exhaust, nurse call and clinical data cabling, decorative lighting and flooring, signage.
15-year land improvements — $290,000. Patient parking, striping and ADA access, covered drop-off canopy foundations, sidewalks and entry hardscape, site lighting, monument signage foundation, landscaping and irrigation, storm drainage.
39-year property — $1,800,000. Shell, structure, roof, envelope, base HVAC, core restrooms and general electrical service.
Total reclassified: $850,000, or 32% of basis.
The section 481(a) computation
Recomputed from 2015 applying the bonus depreciation rate applicable in each year — 50% in 2015, stepping through the changes to the permanent 100% for later additions — cumulative depreciation should have been approximately $1,486,000.
Against the $726,000 actually claimed, the section 481(a) adjustment is roughly $760,000, deductible in full on the 2026 return.
The outcome
At a combined 40% rate, approximately $304,000 of tax deferred in a single year. No amended returns. Form 3115 filed with the 2026 return under the automatic change procedures, with the separate copy filed as required.
The self-rental wrinkle
Because the building is rented to the owner's own practice, the self-rental rules apply. Net rental income would be recharacterised as non-passive; net rental losses would not be. The study turned the rental from income-producing to loss-producing, which raised whether the loss would suspend.
A grouping election under Reg. §1.469-4 treating the rental and the practice as a single activity resolved it, given material participation in both. That election was made deliberately, with the practice's tax counsel, and disclosed — not assumed.
Fee: $6,800 for the study and Form 3115 together.
Book a feasibility call Send us the property