How to Choose a Real Estate Tax CPA

Who should use this resource

Use this guide if you own or are acquiring rental property, operate a short-term rental, are considering a cost-segregation analysis or a Section 1031 exchange, or are preparing for a property sale. Bring the same facts to each prospective firm.

Compare the work behind a real-estate tax engagement, not a promise of a particular deduction or a broad specialist label.

General information, not advice for a particular taxpayer or business. Use current official instructions and the rules applicable to the year, jurisdiction, and facts involved. This resource is useful without hiring Tavella CPA Group.

What to look for in a real-estate tax CPA

Ask the firm to connect the annual return to the property’s history. A current-year expense total is not a substitute for purchase records, prior depreciation, ownership changes, personal use, or a planned disposition. The appropriate reporting and loss treatment depend on the facts; neither rental ownership nor a professional title guarantees a deduction.

Rental-property and Schedule E reporting: identify rental income, expenses, ownership shares, and the returns receiving the results.
Short-term-rental reporting and participation questions: review services provided, rental and personal use, activity records, and participation facts rather than assuming every short stay has the same tax treatment.
Basis, depreciation, repairs, improvements, and placed-in-service records: ask how the firm documents the starting basis, separates land, tracks additions, and addresses missing historical schedules.
Property sales, depreciation recapture, suspended losses, and state reporting: ask which gain, basis, loss, and jurisdiction schedules are included. Different depreciation-related gain rules should not be reduced to one universal recapture rate.
1031 exchange tax reporting and qualified-intermediary coordination: distinguish return preparation from exchange facilitation, custody of funds, and legal-document work.
Cost-segregation tax analysis and Form 3115 coordination: identify who develops the study inputs, who reviews tax classification and method questions, and who implements accepted conclusions on the return.
Entity and owner-return coordination: confirm how partnership, S corporation, individual, and state filings exchange the necessary information when relevant.

Source context: IRS Publication 527 — Residential Rental Property; IRS Publication 946 — How To Depreciate Property; IRS Publication 544 — Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets; IRS Instructions for Form 8824 — Like-Kind Exchanges.

Questions to ask before hiring the firm

Which properties, owners, entities, returns, states, years, and transactions are included?
Who prepares basis and depreciation schedules, and how will they reconcile to prior returns?
How are repairs versus improvements documented, and which invoices or project details are needed?
How are short-term-rental services and participation reviewed?
Does the firm prepare or only review a cost-segregation tax analysis? What part of the underlying study is performed by an independent provider?
When are an engineer, qualified intermediary, attorney, or valuation professional required, and who engages and pays each professional?
What deliverable will be provided: returns, schedules, a written analysis, an open-item list, or a separately scoped planning discussion?
What records and deadlines remain the owner’s responsibility, and how are missing records or changes in scope handled?

Records a real-estate tax CPA may request

Send records through the secure method agreed with the engaged professional. A public inquiry should describe the question without attaching returns, taxpayer identifiers, bank details, or client documents.

Closing statements and purchase agreements, including acquisition costs and ownership details.
Land-allocation support and any independent appraisal or valuation inputs used.
Improvement and repair invoices, project descriptions, completion dates, and placed-in-service facts.
Prior federal and state returns, depreciation schedules, basis schedules, and loss carryforward records.
Rental agreements, rental and personal-use calendars, income and expense records, and participation logs where relevant.
Booking-platform statements, payment records, fees, occupancy information, and services provided for short-term rentals.
Sale, refinance, Section 1031 exchange, and cost-segregation records when applicable.
Entity records, ownership changes, state registrations, and the locations of properties and owners.

Source context: IRS Publication 527 — Residential Rental Property; IRS Publication 946 — How To Depreciate Property; IRS Publication 544 — Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets.

Which professional owns each role

IRS Publication 5653 is a cost-segregation examination guide, not binding authority. It discusses the quality and support of studies; it does not establish a universal engineer-only credential rule or guarantee that a study’s conclusions will be accepted. Current law, the property facts, and the actual technical work still require review.

Separate the tax engagement from exchange, engineering, legal, and valuation work
Professional role	Work to identify in the scope	Boundary to confirm
CPA	Tax preparation, calculations, schedules, return implementation, and accepted planning.	A tax engagement does not itself include engineering, an appraisal, legal opinions, or exchange facilitation.
Qualified intermediary	The separately arranged intermediary function in a deferred Section 1031 exchange.	Confirm eligibility, independence, agreement, and funds-handling responsibilities. Do not assume an existing tax preparer can act as the intermediary.
Engineer or qualified technical specialist	Inspection, quantity takeoff, engineering judgment, or cost-estimating work where required by the study scope.	Confirm relevant qualifications and who stands behind technical assumptions; a CPA tax review is a separate role.
Attorney	Legal documents, title, contracts, disputes, and legal opinions.	The CPA does not supply legal authority through a tax engagement.
Independent valuation professional	An appraisal or valuation conclusion when required.	The valuation professional owns that conclusion; the CPA may use accepted inputs for separately scoped tax work.

Source context: IRS Publication 544 — Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets; IRS Instructions for Form 8824 — Like-Kind Exchanges; IRS Publication 5653 — Cost Segregation Audit Technique Guide.

Deliverables and red flags

A useful proposal identifies the properties, returns, jurisdictions, records, deadlines, and people responsible for each step. Basis, depreciation, or transaction schedules should be named when included, together with an open-item and responsibility list. Ask how the firm documents assumptions and communicates unresolved questions.

Obtain a written scope before relying on a proposed timeline or deliverable.
Treat universal tax-saving promises, unclear professional roles, and a refusal to request prior depreciation or basis records as reasons to ask more questions.
Do not treat a fee quote or a website description as confirmation that every property, year, state, method change, or representation matter is included.
No professional can guarantee a deduction, refund, IRS acceptance, exchange qualification, or tax savings from the facts listed on a website.

PRINT & KEEP

Printable real-estate CPA selection checklist

Use the same checklist for each firm. Mark an item only when the scope or record has actually been confirmed; leave unresolved items open.

Define the engagement

List each property, owner, entity, tax year, and state.
Identify rental, short-term-rental, exchange, study, refinance, or sale work.
Name each return, calculation, schedule, and written deliverable.

Assemble the history

Gather closing, purchase, land-allocation, and improvement records.
Locate prior returns, basis, depreciation, and suspended-loss schedules.
Document rental use, personal use, services, and participation facts.

Assign roles and deadlines

Identify the CPA, intermediary, engineer, attorney, and valuation professional where needed.
Confirm secure document delivery and the owner’s response deadlines.
Record exclusions, open questions, fee terms, and how scope changes are approved.

A RELEVANT SERVICE FAMILY

Review the available scope

Compare the available real-estate tax scopes with the records and professional roles you have identified. Each accepted engagement is separately defined.

Review Real Estate Tax Services

Primary sources

These public sources provide the authority or factual context identified in the relevant section. They are not a guarantee of eligibility or a substitute for current, fact-specific advice.

IRS Publication 527 — Residential Rental Property
Rental reporting, personal use, repairs, improvements, depreciation, and loss limitations.
IRS Publication 946 — How To Depreciate Property
Basis, placed-in-service facts, depreciation methods, and corrections.
IRS Publication 544 — Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets
Disposition consequences, exchange mechanics, and intermediary restrictions.
IRS Instructions for Form 8824 — Like-Kind Exchanges
Exchange reporting and applicable requirements; identify transaction deadlines before acting.
IRS Publication 5653 — Cost Segregation Audit Technique Guide
An examination guide, not binding authority or a guarantee of study acceptance.

Selecting an international tax CPA
Identify cross-border ownership, income, reporting, and foreign-adviser responsibilities.
Choosing help for an IRS notice or audit
Separate underlying return work from a notice-response or representation engagement.