To avoid draconian tax results, you never want to “improve” your rental property, and you especially never want to the take your rental property out of service to make the improvements.

In general, the repair deduction is 300 percent more valuable to your bottom line than an improvement is. See the article titled “Making Mold Removal a Repair and Not a Capital Expenditure” on page 5 of the July 2006 issue of Tax Reduction Letter (Vol. 15, No. 7) for ... Log in to view full article.