I'm helping a friend with her taxes, and realized that the rental income from a trailer she owns has never been declared. At first glance she is afraid about how much her taxes would go up, but I realize that there would be deductions as well.
This trailer is fully paid for years ago. To depreciate the trailer and offset the income, would she just take the current value of the trailer and devide by the estimated useful life? Is there a published guideline on the estimated useful life for mobile homes, or is that just done by educated guess? Having never declared the income, or deducted any expenses, does she need to amend her returns for the last three years to get this started?
Thanks for your time.