Real estate returns are not determined solely by rental income and appreciation.
The timing of depreciation, the treatment of renovations, an investor’s ability to use passive losses, and the tax consequences at sale can all materially affect the investment’s after-tax outcome.
That is why cost segregation has become an important consideration for real estate owners, sponsors, and limited partners.
During an Ivy Capital webinar, founder and CEO Jeff Guberman spoke with Gian P. Pazzia, Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer at KBKG, about how cost segregation works across the full lifecycle of a real estate investment. Their conversation covered accelerated depreciation, bonus depreciation, renovation write-offs, depreciation recapture, real estate professional status, energy-efficiency incentives, and the questions investors should ask before entering a deal.
The discussion also highlighted an important distinction:
Cost segregation does not create an economic loss.
It changes when eligible depreciation deductions are recognized.
That timing can improve near-term cash flow and give investors more capital to retain, reinvest, or allocate elsewhere. However, the benefits depend on the property, ownership structure, holding period, tax classification, and individual investor circumstances.
Understanding those variables is essential before treating a large first-year tax loss as an automatic investment advantage.
Cost segregation is a tax-planning process that identifies portions of a building that may qualify for shorter depreciation periods than the building itself.
Residential rental buildings are generally depreciated over 27.5 years, while nonresidential real property is generally depreciated over 39 years. A cost segregation study analyzes the property and identifies eligible components that may instead fall into shorter recovery periods, commonly five, seven, or 15 years.
Those components may include qualifying items such as:
The objective is to separate eligible shorter-life assets from the structural building components that must continue to be depreciated over the longer recovery period.
When shorter-life property also qualifies for bonus depreciation, a substantial portion of its remaining basis may potentially be deducted in the year it is placed in service.
Current IRS guidance generally restores 100% bonus depreciation for qualifying property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025, subject to eligibility requirements and transaction-specific rules.
Cost segregation therefore accelerates deductions that might otherwise have been recognized gradually over several years or decades.
| Tax-Planning Area | Primary Question |
| Property eligibility | Which building components qualify for shorter recovery periods? |
| First-year depreciation | How much eligible basis may be accelerated? |
| Future-year deductions | How does accelerated depreciation change deductions in later years? |
| Renovations | Can removed components be written off when replaced? |
| Passive-loss treatment | Can the investor currently use the allocated tax loss? |
| Real estate professional status | Can qualifying rental losses become nonpassive? |
| Sale and recapture | What tax obligations may arise when the property is sold? |
| 1031 exchange | Can recognition of gain be deferred into replacement real estate? |
| Asset selection | Which property types typically contain more short-life components? |
| Study quality | Can the provider support and defend its classifications? |
| Limited-partner reporting | Is the expected depreciation clearly explained to investors? |
| Energy incentives | Does a development qualify for separate energy-related credits? |
Without a cost segregation study, most of a residential rental property’s depreciable building basis is generally deducted over 27.5 years.
That produces relatively consistent annual depreciation deductions.
Cost segregation changes the timing.
Instead of waiting decades to recognize deductions associated with qualifying components, the owner may be able to accelerate those deductions into the earlier years of ownership.
In the webinar, Jeff shared an example from an Ivy Capital property with approximately $6 million of equity. After completing a cost segregation study, the property reportedly generated a tax loss of more than $5 million on its K-1s for that year.
That example illustrates the potential scale of accelerated depreciation, but it should not be treated as a universal ratio or guaranteed result. The final allocation depends on factors such as:
A cost segregation study does not mean every dollar invested becomes deductible.
Land is not depreciable, and structural building components generally remain subject to longer recovery periods.
The economic value of cost segregation is largely connected to the time value of money.
A deduction taken today may be more valuable than the same nominal deduction taken 10 or 20 years from now because the current tax savings may preserve liquidity that can be reinvested.
For example, an investor who receives an accelerated deduction may be able to use the preserved capital to:
However, accelerated depreciation does not necessarily increase the total amount of depreciation available over the property’s life.
It generally moves eligible deductions forward.
That means investors should evaluate the benefit as part of a multi-year tax strategy rather than focusing only on the first-year K-1.
A large first-year deduction is usually followed by lower deductions in subsequent years.
Suppose an investor allocates $1 million of equity to a property and receives a substantial first-year tax loss because qualifying components were accelerated.
The property may continue to produce depreciation in later years, but the deductions could be considerably smaller because a portion of the eligible basis has already been deducted.
The exact pattern depends on:
This is particularly important for limited partners.
A sponsor may present an estimated first-year depreciation allocation during the capital raise, but investors should also ask what depreciation may look like in years two, three, four, and five.
The first-year benefit should not be interpreted as a recurring annual benefit of the same size.
Cost segregation is not relevant only when a property is acquired.
It can also provide useful records when an owner later renovates or replaces parts of the building.
Consider a multifamily property where the owner replaces:
The cost segregation study may help establish the original value associated with the components being removed.
Under applicable partial-disposition rules, an owner may be able to stop depreciating the disposed component and recognize a loss associated with its remaining adjusted basis, depending on the facts, accounting treatment, election requirements, and supporting records.
Without adequate component-level documentation, an owner could potentially continue depreciating an asset that is no longer physically present while also depreciating its replacement.
A detailed study may help the tax team identify:
For value-add sponsors, this makes coordination between the cost segregation provider, asset-management team, construction team, and CPA especially important.
Major renovations should not be reviewed only from a construction-budget perspective.
They should also be reviewed for potential tax consequences.
The treatment of removed assets may also matter when the property is eventually sold.
During the webinar, Gian used cabinetry as an example.
Suppose qualifying cabinets were accelerated after acquisition and later removed during a renovation. If those original cabinets are no longer part of the property at sale, the tax treatment may differ from a situation in which the same depreciated assets remain in the building and are transferred to the buyer.
Accurately recording disposed components can therefore affect both:
This is one reason fixed-asset records should be updated throughout the hold period rather than reconstructed only when preparing for a disposition.
Depreciation recapture is a tax rule that may require some gain associated with previously claimed depreciation to be recognized when depreciated property is sold.
The concept is straightforward:
An investor previously received deductions that reduced the tax basis of the property. If the property is later sold for more than its adjusted basis, some of the resulting gain may be attributable to those earlier deductions.
The actual treatment is more complex than applying one tax rate to the entire gain.
Different rules may apply to:
IRS Publication 544 explains that certain depreciation-related gains may be treated as ordinary income, while other portions of the transaction may receive different tax treatment.
For that reason, investors should not assume that every dollar of accelerated depreciation will be repaid at one uniform rate when the property sells.
The result depends on the asset allocation, depreciation history, holding period, sale price, ownership structure, and transaction design.
Not necessarily.
Even when recapture applies, an investor may still benefit from having received the tax deduction several years earlier.
The relevant comparison is not simply:
“How much depreciation was recaptured?”
It is:
“What was the value of receiving and using the tax benefit during the holding period, and what tax became payable at the exit?”
A disciplined analysis may consider:
A three-year hold and a 15-year hold may produce very different outcomes even if the original cost segregation allocation is identical.
Cost segregation should therefore be modeled alongside the expected business plan and exit strategy.
A properly structured Section 1031 exchange may allow an investor to defer recognition of gain when qualifying investment or business real property is exchanged for other qualifying real property.
The replacement property generally receives a carryover basis connected to the relinquished property, subject to adjustments for additional consideration and other transaction details. Section 1031 now generally applies to real property rather than personal or intangible property.
A 1031 exchange should not automatically be described as eliminating depreciation recapture.
It generally postpones recognition when the statutory requirements are satisfied. Certain recapture issues can still arise depending on the property exchanged, the assets received, and whether cash or other non-like-kind property is involved.
Investors considering both cost segregation and a future 1031 exchange should coordinate the strategies before the sale.
Relevant questions include:
Most income-producing building types can potentially benefit from cost segregation.
However, the percentage of depreciable basis that qualifies for shorter recovery periods varies considerably.
Properties containing more specialized finishes, equipment, site improvements, and dedicated systems may generate larger allocations than simple shell buildings.
During the webinar, Gian discussed several property types that may contain higher concentrations of qualifying components:
Properties that may contain fewer qualifying short-life components include:
This does not mean a warehouse is a poor investment or that a car wash is automatically a good investment.
Cost segregation affects tax timing.
It does not determine tenant demand, operating risk, debt coverage, replacement cost, market liquidity, or investment quality.
A property should not be selected solely because it is expected to generate more depreciation.
One of the most important points from the webinar was that receiving a large K-1 loss is not the same as being able to deduct that loss against every source of income.
Rental real estate activities are generally treated as passive unless an exception applies.
Passive losses are typically used against passive income. When an investor does not have sufficient passive income or another available exception, some or all of the loss may be suspended and carried forward.
A passive real estate loss generally cannot automatically offset:
The investor may still receive economic value from the suspended loss in a later year, but the timing depends on future passive income, property dispositions, basis limitations, at-risk rules, and other tax factors.
Before investing primarily for depreciation, a limited partner should ask:
The answer is investor-specific.
A depreciation allocation that is immediately useful to one investor may remain suspended for another.
Real estate professional status is a federal tax classification that may allow qualifying rental real estate activities to be treated as nonpassive when the taxpayer also satisfies the applicable material-participation requirements.
Under IRS guidance, a taxpayer generally must satisfy both of the following tests:
The classification is often misunderstood.
Simply owning real estate, being licensed as a real estate agent, or spending 750 hours reviewing investments does not automatically establish eligibility.
The taxpayer must examine:
A full-time professional who spends 1,500 hours in another business may have difficulty satisfying the more-than-half test even after spending more than 750 hours on real estate.
By contrast, a person whose primary business activity is acquiring, developing, leasing, managing, or operating real estate may be more likely to satisfy the requirements, provided the participation and documentation rules are met.
During the webinar, Gian demonstrated Track 750, an application designed to help real estate investors record time associated with real estate activities.
The broader lesson is that documentation should be created throughout the year.
Reconstructing an annual time log after receiving an audit notice may be difficult and less credible than maintaining records as the work occurs.
Useful documentation may include:
The log should describe the actual work.
Repeated entries such as “real estate research—eight hours” may not provide enough information to establish the nature of the participation.
The goal is not merely to accumulate hours.
It is to create a reliable record showing that the taxpayer satisfied the statutory and regulatory requirements.
In a syndicated real estate investment, the general partner or property-owning entity normally arranges the cost segregation study.
That does not mean the subject is irrelevant to limited partners.
The resulting depreciation is allocated through the partnership and reported to investors on their K-1s according to the operating agreement, tax rules, ownership structure, and allocation methodology.
Before investing, an LP should understand:
A sponsor should avoid presenting depreciation as though every investor will receive the same tax benefit.
The property-level allocation may be consistent, but the investor-level outcome will vary.
A cost segregation study is not merely a spreadsheet that assigns percentages to building components.
A defensible study should connect tax classifications to the property’s actual construction, use, documentation, and applicable legal authority.
The provider may need to review:
Investors and sponsors should ask prospective providers:
Gian explained during the webinar that hiring an inexperienced provider may become substantially more expensive if the study is challenged and another firm must later reconstruct or defend the analysis.
The lowest initial fee may not represent the lowest total risk.
A well-prepared cost segregation report should be designed to withstand scrutiny.
That does not guarantee that the IRS will accept every classification without questions.
It means the provider should be able to explain:
According to Gian, KBKG includes audit support with its studies and has developed experience responding to IRS examinations over decades of cost segregation work.
Sponsors should confirm the exact scope of any audit-support commitment.
For example:
These details should be understood before the study is commissioned.
The webinar also discussed the Section 45L New Energy Efficient Home Credit.
Depending on the applicable certification, prevailing-wage compliance, acquisition date, and other requirements, qualifying contractors have historically been able to claim credits of up to $5,000 per eligible dwelling unit.
This was particularly relevant to Ivy Capital’s discussion of a 134-unit ground-up multifamily development.
At $5,000 per qualifying unit, a 100-unit project could theoretically generate $500,000 in credits. However, that calculation is only illustrative. Eligibility depends on satisfying the applicable program and labor requirements.
There is also an important timing update for anyone publishing or relying on this webinar after June 2026:
Under current federal law, the Section 45L credit is not allowed for qualified new energy-efficient homes acquired after June 30, 2026. Projects with units acquired on or before that date may still need to be evaluated based on the certification, acquisition, prevailing-wage, and filing requirements that applied to them.
Developers should therefore confirm:
Section 45L is a separate incentive from cost segregation and should be evaluated independently.
A cost segregation estimate should not be considered in isolation.
It should be evaluated alongside:
A short-term value-add investment may produce a large early deduction but reach a taxable sale relatively quickly.
A long-term hold may provide a longer period during which the investor can use the tax deferral.
A development may generate new depreciation as buildings and improvements are placed in service over time.
A heavily renovated property may create partial-disposition opportunities that a simple buy-and-hold asset does not.
The correct question is not:
“How much depreciation can this property generate?”
It is:
“How does the expected depreciation interact with the property’s operations, renovation schedule, ownership structure, investor profile, and exit plan?”
Before relying on projected tax benefits, investors and sponsors should seek credible answers to the following questions.
Cost segregation is a tax-planning process that separates qualifying components of a real estate property from the main building so those components may be depreciated over shorter recovery periods.
Cost segregation may accelerate eligible depreciation deductions into the earlier years of ownership. This can reduce current taxable income when the investor is eligible to use the losses. It generally changes the timing of deductions rather than creating additional economic expenses.
Yes. When eligible property qualifies for accelerated depreciation and bonus depreciation, a property may report a substantial tax loss during its first year. The amount depends on the property, basis allocation, tax law, ownership structure, and operating results.
Not automatically. Rental real estate losses are generally passive. A passive loss ordinarily cannot offset W-2 income unless the taxpayer qualifies for an applicable exception, such as real estate professional treatment combined with material participation.
A taxpayer generally must perform more than 750 hours of services during the tax year in real property trades or businesses in which the taxpayer materially participated. More than half of the taxpayer’s personal services in all trades or businesses must also be performed in those real property activities.
Limited partners may receive allocated depreciation through their K-1s. Whether they can use the loss immediately depends on their personal tax circumstances, including passive income, tax basis, at-risk limitations, material participation, and real estate professional status.
After a substantial first-year deduction, depreciation will normally be lower in later years because some eligible basis has already been deducted. New renovations and capital improvements may generate additional depreciation.
Depending on the facts and tax treatment, the owner may be able to recognize the remaining basis of the removed component through a partial-disposition election. Proper records are needed to identify the component and its adjusted basis.
A sale may create depreciation recapture or other taxable gain. The amount and tax rate depend on the property classification, depreciation claimed, adjusted basis, sale price, and transaction structure. It is not necessarily a dollar-for-dollar repayment of the original benefit.
A qualifying 1031 exchange may defer recognition of gain, but it does not necessarily eliminate the future tax obligation. Certain recapture issues may also arise depending on the assets transferred and received.
A study is commonly completed after a property is acquired, constructed, renovated, or placed in service. A study may also be completed later through an accounting-method change, subject to applicable filing requirements.
No. Cost segregation may apply to many income-producing properties, including student housing, office buildings, medical facilities, retail centers, restaurants, industrial assets, self-storage, hotels, gas stations, and car washes.
The answer depends on the depreciable basis, expected acceleration, investor tax profile, property type, holding period, study fee, and potential recapture. A feasibility estimate can help determine whether a full study is economically reasonable.
Cost segregation can create meaningful tax-planning opportunities for real estate owners and investors.
It can accelerate eligible depreciation, preserve near-term liquidity, support renovation write-offs, and help investors better understand the after-tax characteristics of a property.
But the size of the first-year deduction should not replace the fundamentals of the investment.
Investors must still evaluate:
A large depreciation allocation cannot correct a weak property, an aggressive purchase price, poor operations, or an unsustainable capital structure.
The strongest application of cost segregation occurs when tax planning is integrated with disciplined real estate ownership.
That means considering the strategy at acquisition, maintaining accurate records during renovations, reviewing dispositions before assets are removed, planning for the eventual sale, and explaining the consequences clearly to limited partners.
The central question is not simply:
“How large will the first-year tax loss be?”
It is:
“How does this depreciation strategy support the investor’s complete financial and tax plan throughout the life of the investment?”
That is the role of thoughtful cost segregation planning.
It does not eliminate taxes or investment risk.
It helps qualified investors manage the timing of depreciation within a broader real estate strategy.
Want a deeper understanding of cost segregation, accelerated depreciation, renovation write-offs, real estate professional status, and depreciation recapture?
Watch the full Ivy Capital podcast featuring Jeff Guberman and Gian P. Pazzia of KBKG for practical insights into how real estate investors and sponsors can use these strategies throughout the investment lifecycle.
This article is for general educational purposes only. It does not constitute tax, legal, accounting, financial, or investment advice, an offer to sell securities, or a solicitation to purchase an investment. Tax outcomes vary by investor and transaction. Readers should consult qualified tax, legal, and financial professionals regarding their individual circumstances.