Cost Segregation in Rhode Island
SmartCostSeg LLC, a Rhode Island limited liability company, and every study is prepared online from the owner's documents, so a Rhode Island property is served the same way as one anywhere else: no site visit, no meeting, the analysis alone. This page says what that means for a Rhode Island rental or commercial building and shows an example computed by our engine.
A Rhode Island Company
SmartCostSeg LLC, a Rhode Island limited liability company.
Our business address is "Westminster Square, 10 Dorrance St, Suite 700-4893, Providence, RI 02903".
SmartCostSeg has delivered cost segregation studies for Rhode Island properties. Every study is prepared and checked by the same team wherever the property is; the About page names it.
How a Rhode Island Study Is Prepared
You upload the settlement statement, the photographs and any report you have; the engine computes the three positions; our team checks the study before it is delivered to your dashboard. The rules below are federal, printed from their sources.
- Land cannot be depreciated. The costs of clearing, grading, planting and landscaping are usually part of the cost of land. Source: Treas. Reg. section 1.167(a)-2; IRS Publication 527 (2025), chapter 2, What Rental Property Can't Be Depreciated
- Under the general depreciation system, residential rental property is depreciated over 27.5 years and nonresidential real property over 39 years. The alternative depreciation system, which applies to some property, has longer recovery periods. Source: IRC section 168(c) and (g)(2)(C); IRS Publication 946 (2025), chapter 4
- Bonus depreciation can apply to property that has a recovery period of 20 years or less, as long as the property also meets the other tests, such as the original use or used property rule. That covers the 5 year, 7 year and 15 year components a cost segregation study identifies. It does not cover the 27.5 year or 39 year building itself. Source: IRC section 168(k)(2)(A)(i)(I)
Rhode Island's Own Rules
Some states add back bonus depreciation, so the savings shown throughout this site are federal. Your CPA applies Rhode Island's treatment to your return.
- For the business corporation, bank and personal income taxes (R.I. Gen. Laws chapters 44-11, 44-14 and 44-30), Rhode Island does not allow the federal bonus depreciation provided by the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002 (see 26 U.S.C. section 168), the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 or any subsequent federal enactment. In the year the assets are placed in service and in all later years, Rhode Island depreciation is computed as it would have been before the 2002 Act was enacted. Gain on a later disposition is computed using a basis consistent with that Rhode Island depreciation. On Rhode Island returns, the federal bonus amount is added back and the depreciation not taken federally because of the bonus is subtracted in later years. Source: R.I. Gen. Laws section 44-61-1(a) and (b); Rhode Island Division of Taxation ADV 2022-39; 2025 RI-1040C instructions, lines 2b and 4b; 2025 RI Schedule K-1 instructions; 2025 RI Schedule M
Property Types the Engine Models
Two, three and four family houses, mixed use buildings with a storefront below apartments, and small apartment buildings each have a page with the classes the estimate moves and an illustrative example.
An Example From Our Engine
An invented three family computed by the estimate engine for the inputs shown.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Land value | $82,500 |
| Building basis | $467,500 |
| Moved to the 5 year class | $78,540 |
| Moved to the 15 year class | $33,660 |
| Left on the 27.5 year life | $355,300 |
| Share of the building basis moved | 24% |
| First year depreciation without a study | $17,000 |
| First year depreciation with a study | $125,120 |
| Additional first year deduction | $108,120 |
| Conservative | Middle of the Road | Aggressive |
|---|---|---|
| $89,080 | $125,120 | $161,160 |
Less to land means more to depreciate, so a low land value is the aggressive land position.
Illustrative example computed by our estimate engine for an invented Triplex at 3 Fixture Street, Testville, ZZ 00000: purchase price $550,000, $82,500 assigned to land (15.0%), placed in service January 1, 2026, at the Middle of the Road position with 100% bonus. Results vary with property specifics and your tax situation.
The ZZ 00000 marker means invented: these figures are an illustration for the inputs shown, not a result for any real property.
Questions people ask
Do you visit the property?
- No. The study is modeled from your documents and photographs and says so; nobody comes to the building.
Can my CPA in Rhode Island use the study?
- Yes. The study is prepared for your tax advisor: the asset by asset detail and the authorities, in a file your CPA works from, and depreciation schedules by year are available on request.
Who is behind SmartCostSeg?
- SmartCostSeg LLC, a Rhode Island limited liability company. The About page names the team and the contact page reaches it.
The rules on this page were checked against their sources on October 1, 2026.
Ready when you are.
The wizard asks the questions for your property and routes it to the right lane.