is there a reasonably clear explanation of all this? I find the IRS language to be gibberish, and the couple of memos I found from the Big "N" accounting firms is both gibberish and uninformative.
"N" used to be 8, but what is it nowadays?
Last time I checked, almost two years ago:
Big Four
Deloitte PWC (PriceWaterhouseCoopers) Ernst & Young KPMG
[...]
Here's a relatively short article I was able to muddle through:
I don't get it:
"For those not familiar with GAA rules, they stipulate that only assets depreciated the same way can be in the same GAA (i.e. assets with the same MACRS tax life, recovery method, convention, and effective placed in service date). The GAA election is simply made by checking a box on the Form 4562, and taxpayers will need to keep records of which assets are in which GAA. Further, a GAA election must be made on a timely filed tax return (including extensions) for the year the asset was placed in service.
In light of these changes, the IRS is allowing two years for taxpayers to file retroactive GAA elections for assets placed in service before 2012 using the Form 3115, Automatic Change of Accounting Method form. If that window is missed, your client might be stuck indefinitely with the adverse consequences mentioned above so it's critical that you address this issue."
does anything need to be done for a taxpayer who owns rental property consisting of a commercial-lease structure, parking lot, rooftop HVAC units, etc.? All (other than land value) is being depreciated straight line since purchase, without allocation among the various components. At some point, the parking lot paving will need to be seal coated/repaired, some HVAC unit will fail necessitating replacement, etc.
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