Additions and Improvements

An addition or improvement you make to depreciable property is treated as separate depreciable property. See How Do You Treat Repairs and Improvements? in chapter 1 for a definition of improvements. Its property class and recovery period are the same as those that would apply to the original property if you had placed it in service at the same time you placed the addition or improvement in service. The recovery period begins on the later of the following dates.

• The date you place the addition or improvement in service.

High technology telephone station

equipment installed on customer premises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 years High technology medical equipment . . . . . 5 years Non-commercial aircraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 years Personal property with no class life . . . . . . 12 years Commercial aircraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 years Natural gas gathering lines . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 years Single-purpose agricultural and

horticultural structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 years Any tree or vine bearing fruits or nuts . . . . 20 years Initial clearing and grading land

improvements for gas utility property . . . 20 years Initial clearing and grading land

improvements for electric utility transmission and distribution plants . . . 25 years Electric transmission property used in the

transmission at 69 or more kilovolts of electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 years Natural gas distribution lines . . . . . . . . . . . 35 years Nonresidential real property . . . . . . . . . . . 40 years Residential rental property . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 years ¹

Section 1245 real property not listed in

Appendix B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 years Railroad grading and tunnel bore . . . . . . . 50 years

1 40 years for property placed in service before January 1, 2018. Note: The ADS recovery period for residential rental property placed in service before January 1, 2018, is 30 years if the property is held by an electing real property trade or business (as defined in section 163(j)(7)(B)) and section 168(g)(1)(A), (B), (C), (D), or (E) did not apply to the property before January 1, 2018.

Property

Recovery

Period

Rent-to-own property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 years Automobiles and light duty trucks . . . . . . . 5 years Computers and peripheral equipment . . . . 5 years

Publication 946 (2025) Chapter 4 Figuring Depreciation Under MACRS 33

• The date you place in service the property to which you made the addition or improvement.

Example. You own a rental home that you have been renting out since 1981. If you put an addition on the home and place the addition in service this year, you would use MACRS to figure your depreciation deduction for the addition. Under GDS, the property class for the addition is residential rental property and its recovery period is 27.5 years because the home to which the addition is made would be residential rental property if you had placed it in service this year.