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IRS Rules, Form 3115 & Compliance

Having an existing study reviewed: what a second look usually finds

Older reports frequently missed things that are still correctable today.

Deprecio 14 December 2025 4 min read

Why review

Studies produced five, ten or fifteen years ago were built under different rules, by firms of varying quality, before qualified improvement property existed and before the tangible property regulations were finalised.

A review is inexpensive relative to what it sometimes finds, and where it finds a correctable method, the correction comes forward on a Form 3115 rather than through amended returns.

What reviews commonly find

Land improvements missed entirely. The most frequent finding. Older studies focused on interior personal property and treated site work as part of the building.

Qualified improvement property on 39 years. 2018 and 2019 improvements that never received the CARES Act correction.

Percentage-based allocations. Studies that asserted a number without a takeoff, which are vulnerable and which a properly documented study can replace.

Components long since replaced. Roofs, chillers and build-outs still depreciating on the schedule with no disposition ever claimed.

No indirect cost allocation. Soft costs dumped on the building rather than spread across components.

What a review does not do

It does not re-open a properly done study to squeeze out a larger percentage. If the original work was sound, the honest answer is that it was sound, and that is what you will hear.

The disposition angle

Reviews are particularly valuable on properties that have had significant capital spending since the original study. Each replacement was a disposition opportunity, and if the original study established component basis, the calculation is available even years later — subject to the timing rules on the election itself.

What to send

The original report including the asset detail, the current depreciation schedule, and a list of capital spending since the study with rough dates and amounts. That is usually enough for us to tell you within a week whether a fuller look is worthwhile.

Where this stops. This article is general information, not tax advice, and it cannot account for your basis, your entity, your participation or your state. A free feasibility review takes twenty minutes and gives you an answer specific to your property.

Book a feasibility call  Send us the property
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The study is one piece. We can handle the rest of the return.

Deprecio is part of the Shurek Accounting & Tax family of brands. If you want the study and the tax work under one roof — the return, the Form 3115, entity structure, quarterly estimates, multi-state filings — that is a single engagement, not a hand-off between two firms.

No-cost feasibility review

Find out what your building is hiding.

A feasibility review is free and takes about twenty minutes. Bring the closing statement and the depreciation schedule; we will tell you plainly whether a study pays for itself.

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