Dear Liz: I am the sole owner of a condo. I am getting ready to realize a dream of mine by traveling around the world. I will be gone indefinitely. Thus, I am thinking about renting out my condo. I know I get a write-off for repairs on the unit, cleaning supplies, etc. What about the storage unit where I will need to store my things from my unit. Can I write off the storage unit?
Answer: Congratulations on your upcoming adventure! You’ll have excitement enough without defending yourself in an IRS audit, so avoid deducting personal expenses such as a storage unit.
The IRS says you can deduct the “ordinary and necessary” expenses for managing and maintaining a rental property. That includes mortgage interest, taxes, operating expenses, depreciation and repairs.
“If the storage unit was used in conjunction with the rental activity, such as storing maintenance supplies for doing work on the rental property, a deduction could perhaps be justified,” says Mark Luscombe, principal analyst for Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting.
However, you won’t be around to do that work, so deducting the storage unit isn’t going to fly.