Schedule E Line 19 Other Expenses: What Goes There and How to Track It

Schedule E line 19 is for ordinary and necessary rental expenses that are not listed on lines 5 through 18. Keep an itemized, per-property log so the total is easy to support.

What line 19 is

Schedule E, Part I has named lines for the common rental costs (advertising, insurance, repairs, taxes and so on, lines 5 through 18). Line 19 is the catch-all. The Schedule E instructions say: "Enter on line 19 any ordinary and necessary expenses not listed on lines 5 through 18." If a cost has its own line, it goes there. If it is a real rental expense with no line, it belongs on line 19.

The instructions I reviewed do not say whether to list line 19 items individually or enter one total. Check the current Schedule E form and instructions for that, and either way keep your own itemized list so you can support the number (see the log below). One line 19 item the instructions do name is the section 179D energy-efficient commercial building deduction, claimed with Form 7205.

Items that often land on line 19

The IRS pages above do not publish a master list of line 19 items, so treat these as common examples to check against your own situation rather than a rule: HOA dues, bank fees on the rental account, pest control, landscaping and lawn care, and rental-related software or subscriptions. If a cost fits an existing line (for example, insurance or repairs), use that line instead. Ordinary and necessary, and actually tied to the rental, is the test.

Small purchases and the de minimis safe harbor

Publication 527 explains that if you elect the de minimis safe harbor for your rental activity for the tax year, you may deduct qualifying amounts as rental expenses on line 19 of Schedule E instead of capitalizing them. The election has conditions and dollar limits that are set out in the IRS Tangible Property Regulations FAQs; I could not confirm the exact thresholds from the publication text, so look them up there before relying on them. Pub 527 likewise points to those FAQs for the routine maintenance safe harbor.

When part of the use is personal

If you also use a dwelling personally, Pub 527 says to divide expenses between rental and personal use. Days the unit is available for rent but not actually rented do not count as rental days. Rental expenses are generally limited to total expenses multiplied by days rented at a fair rental price over total days used.

Pub 527's beach cottage example: the cottage was available June 1 through August 31 (92 days) and nobody rented it the first week of August (7 days), leaving 92 - 7 = 85 rental days. The family used it 14 days. Total use is 14 + 85 = 99 days, so rental expenses are 85/99, about 86%, of the cottage expenses.

To apply that to line 19, say you paid $1,000 of pest control and landscaping on that cottage (my own illustrative figure, not Pub 527's). $1,000 x 85/99 = $858.59 goes on Schedule E. The remaining $141.41 is personal.

How to keep a per-property line 19 log

One row per payment: date, property, vendor, amount, and a short note on what it was for.
Tag each row "line 19" only after checking that no lines 5 through 18 fits better.
Keep the invoice or receipt, and file it by property and year.
For a property with personal use, add a column for the rental percentage and the deductible amount.
Total each property's rows at year end and tie the total to the line 19 number you report.

FAQ

What is Schedule E line 19?

Line 19 is for other expenses. The Schedule E instructions say to enter any ordinary and necessary expenses not listed on lines 5 through 18.

Should I list line 19 items separately or enter one total?

The instructions pages reviewed do not say. Check the current Schedule E form and instructions, and keep an itemized list of your own to support the total.

Can I deduct small purchases on line 19?

Publication 527 says that if you elect the de minimis safe harbor for your rental activity for the tax year, you may deduct qualifying amounts as rental expenses on line 19 of Schedule E. The dollar limits are in the IRS Tangible Property Regulations FAQs.

What if I use the property personally?

Publication 527 says to divide expenses between rental and personal use. In its beach cottage example, 85 rental days out of 99 total days means 85/99, about 86%, of the expenses are rental expenses.

The Rental Property Tracker has a ledger with Schedule E category dropdowns, so each cost is tagged to its line as you log it, and a Schedule E Summary that totals lines 3-21 per property, line 19 included.

Disclaimer

For record-keeping only. This page is not tax, legal or accounting advice. Verify everything with the official IRS instructions or a tax professional. Kitebyte is not affiliated with the IRS.