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STR tax savings calculator

Enter 5 numbers. See how much less tax you could pay this year if your rental qualifies.

Free · No sign-up · Runs in your browser

What this doesn't include

  • Tax you pay back when you sell (depreciation recapture).
  • State rules for states that don't follow federal bonus depreciation.
  • AMT, the 3.8% investment income tax, and local lodging taxes.
  • The cost of a cost segregation study — $0 for our first 10 customers, about $2,500 elsewhere.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a refund?
It can show up two ways. During the year, you can lower your quarterly estimated payments. When you file, any extra comes back as a refund. It can't be more than the tax you paid in. Your CPA sets the numbers.
Where do these numbers come from?
From IRS rules, applied the same way every time. Building value you can depreciate is (Purchase price + upgrades) × (1 − Land %) under IRS Publication 946. Parts moved to faster write-off are modeled across 20% (Low), 25% (Mid), and 30% (High) short-life reclassification ranges from the IRS Cost Segregation Audit Techniques Guide (Publication 5653) (Reviewed by an independent CPA firm). Federal bonus depreciation follows IRC § 168(k) and Pub. L. 119-21 (100% for qualifying property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025), and non-passive losses are capped at the 2026 Excess Business Loss threshold under IRC § 461(l) and Rev. Proc. 2025-32 § 4.31 ($256,000 single / $512,000 married filing jointly).
Why does the estimator show a Low (20%), Mid (25%), and High (30%) range?
Nobody knows the exact share of a building that moves into 5-, 7-, and 15-year property until a cost segregation study inspects the components. Showing the 20% to 30% range lets you see conservative, typical, and upper-end numbers before you commit. (IRS Publication 5653.)
How is the rest of the building depreciated in year 1?
The remaining residential structure is written off over 27.5 years using the mid-month table for the month your first guest could book. For example, an April start uses 2.576% in year 1 under MACRS Table A-6. (IRS Publication 946, Table A-6.)
How does the Excess Business Loss cap affect a large deduction?
For 2026, federal rules cap the business loss you can use against W-2 wages in one year at $256,000 for Single filers and $512,000 for Married Filing Jointly. Any loss above that cap carries forward to future tax years. (IRC § 461(l); Rev. Proc. 2025-32 § 4.31.)

This content is not tax or financial advice for you. Please talk with a CPA to find what's right for your situation.