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The Landlord's Schedule E Deduction Checklist
The rental write-offs small landlords miss most, each one mapped to the exact IRS Schedule E line it belongs on. Two pages. Print it, tick what applies, keep the receipt behind it.
Why a checklist beats a bigger shoebox
Most landlords do not lose deductions because they were not allowed. They lose them because nobody wrote the expense down, or wrote it down somewhere the tax return could not read.
Schedule E does not ask what you spent. It asks what you spent on line 7. This checklist is built the way the form reads, so a cost gets filed where it belongs the day it happens rather than reconstructed in April.
A number without a record behind it is a number you can lose.
A few of the lines it covers
- Advertising and listing fees line 5
- Mileage, or actual auto costs line 6
- Cleaning, lawn care, pest control line 7
- Landlord and liability insurance line 9
- Tax prep and legal for the rental line 10
- Repairs: leaks, locks, paint line 14
- Supplies and small tools line 15
- Depreciation on improvements line 18
Worth knowing before you total your miles
2026 is a split year for mileage. Most logbooks print one rate.
The IRS raised the business standard mileage rate part way through 2026. If you drive for your rentals, the two halves of the year are deducted at different rates and have to be totalled separately.
Jan 1 to Jun 30, 2026
72.5¢ per mile
Jul 1 to Dec 31, 2026
76¢ per mile
Source: IRS Announcement 2026-11 (Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-29), issued 13 July 2026. The standard rate and actual vehicle costs are alternatives. You may claim one or the other, not both.
If the checklist earns a spot on your desk
The Rental Property Record Book
The checklist tells you where a cost belongs. The record book gives you somewhere to put it, all year, in the order your tax return reads. It is built backwards from Schedule E: a plain-English map of every line, a worked example month, twelve monthly rent rolls, a full-year expense ledger, mileage with the 2026 split rate already handled, a repairs versus improvements tracker, depreciation, and a year-end summary you copy straight onto the form.
So you know what it is: a structured record book organised around one tax form, for the landlord with one to a few rentals. It is not a blank ledger and it is not software. If you want free-form columns, a plain ledger will serve you better and cost less.
Already using the record book?
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Deedwell publishes record-keeping tools, not tax advice. Schedule E line numbers and the figures on this page reflect current IRS guidance as cited, and tax rules change. Confirm your own situation with a tax professional before you file.