A Blog About Tax Savings for Building Owners

Tag: Look-back Studies

Don’t Leave Money in Your Building: How Cost Segregation Can Unlock Hidden Tax Savings

Just a reminder that bonus depreciation is still available on buildings. I do expect we’ll see 100% come back soon for 2025. If you put a building into service back in late 2017 through the end of 2022, you can still grab 100% bonus depreciation on assets with class lives 20 years or less. No need to amend your tax return. You can take it on your current tax return. We can draft the required 3115 Change of Accounting form for you. Easy peasy.

Let’s say you are self renting – i.e. you are running a business out of a building you own…if you grouped that entity with the real estate in the first year you put the building into service, you can go back and grab that remaining bonus depreciation to help reduce your operating income for your business. (There may be some nuances so check with your tax advisor).

And for those who say cost segregation might not be worth it if it’s only 40%, I just completed one where the owner will get $450,000 in a depreciation expense because he did cost segregation vs. $60,000 which is what straight line depreciation was going to provide. But hey, it’s your money. If you want to leave $10k, $20k, $50k, $100k of tax savings just sitting in your building and not your bank account, that is your perogative. I’m just the messenger here letting you know of an amazing opportunity many owners still are not taking advantage of.

Don’t let your tax advisor tell you your building is not worth studying unless you have an estimate in your hands that you and your tax advisor can discuss. Get the facts.

If you’re unsure whether your property qualifies, let’s run the numbers. Message me, and I’ll get something back to you in a day or two so you can at least know if you are leaving money in your building.

John Murphy CSSI

Can Cost Segregation Be Applied to a Building that Has Been Owned for Several Years?

Yes they can. Generally speaking if you’ve owned the building for more than 12 years or so, it’s probable that it may not be worth studying. But that said, I always encourage owners to let us take a look. It could be that there is still enough basis to make it worth your while. It also could be that we identify capital costs that could be converted to expenses – i.e. the capitalization to expense study.

Cost segregation studies can typically be applied retroactively for properties that have been placed in service within the past several years. Specifically, you can:

  1. Go back as far as 1987: The IRS allows cost segregation for properties placed in service after 1986, when the Tax Reform Act of 1986 was implemented. However, practical and useful applications are usually focused on more recent properties.
  2. Catch up with a retroactive study without amending returns: If a property has been in service for several years, a cost segregation study can be performed now, and the missed depreciation can be “caught up” by filing a Form 3115, Change in Accounting Method. This allows you to claim the cumulative missed depreciation in the current tax year without having to amend prior-year tax returns.

About 40% of the studies we do at CSSI are “look-back” studies where the owner has owned the property for a year or more. I’d be happy to talk with you to see if it might make sense for you to do cost segregation on your property.

John Murphy CSSI

© 2025 Cost Seg Building

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑