Questions about tax write off's for rental property

[Wen Chen]

I just bought my 1st rental property last year and need some help with what costs to file for tax return.

Turbo Tax asking to escrow fees for following categories:
Abstract and recording fees
Legal fees, title search, document preparation
land survey
title insurance
transfer or stamp taxes
expenses you paid for the seller

These are the expenses on the closing summary:
Record deed
record mortgage
mortgage tax
bank attorney fee
HOA questionnaire
flood certification fee
title exam
title insurance (mortgage)
title insurance (owner)
delivery charge
legal fees
application fee
appraisal fee
credit report fee

which categories will the fees on the closing summary fall into? And will I enter other fees under expenses (loan application fee, credit report fee)?

Thanks in advance for all the help!

[Michael Plaks]

@Wen Chen

None of that is an expense.

Costs specifically connected to obtaining the mortgage (appraisal, credit report, origination fee etc.) are combined into "loan costs" and then set up for amortization over the length of the mortgage.

The rest is added to the purchase price and results in "tax basis" which is then set up for depreciation over 27.5 years, after allocating a portion of the basis to land.

If this process sounds complicated (which it is) - you may need an accountant to help.