Can I take bonus / special / Sec 179 first yr depr on a new rental unit in the year acquired? Only have 1 unit, but actively repaired and made signif capital improvements

SEC179 deductions are not allowed on residential rental real estate property. Some rental assets will qualify for the 50% special depreciation allowance though. But not the initial property acquision cost itself. It has to be depreciated over 27.5 years.

When you have property improvements that were completed before the property was *ever* placed in service, you have two ways to deal with them.

1) You can add their cost to the cost basis of the structure (not the land) or;

2) You can enter them separately.

I suggest you enter property improvements done after your initial acquisition of the property and before it was placed in service, as separate assets even though they will have the same "in service" date as the property itself. Otherwise, the way to program is presently designed to be used, if you add those improvements to the initial cost basis, the turbotax program will *incorrectly* allocate some of that improvement cost to the land.  That's just wrong.

Now being that it appears you are a first-time landlord, be aware the program lacks a lot of clarity that a first time landlord really needs. It leads to you making incorrect assumptions and entering incorrect data that *WILL* bite your wallet years down the road when the IRS catches the error. (The cost of fixing it years later will be $expensive$ too.)  Therefore I'm providing you the information below in the hopes it helps you out.Of course, if you have questions as you work this through your first time, please ask. Since my screen shows you're using the online version of Premier, you can expect confusion, as (in my opinion) the program does not provide the clarity I think it should. The below should help.

Rental Property Dates & Numbers That Matter.

Date of Conversion - If this was your primary residence before, then this date is the day AFTER you moved out.
In Service Date - This is the date a renter "could" have moved in. Usually, this date is the day you put the FOR RENT sign in the front yard.
Number of days Rented - the day count for this starts from the first day a renter "could" have moved in. That should be your "in service" date if you were asked for that. Vacant periods between renters count also PROVIDED you did not live in the house for one single day during said period of vacancy.
Days of Personal Use - This number will be a big fat ZERO. Read the screen. It's asking for the number of days you lived in the property AFTER you converted it to a rental. I seriously doubt (though it is possible) that you lived in the house (or space, if renting a part of your home) as your primary residence or 2nd home, after you converted it to a rental.
Business Use Percentage. 100%. I'll put that in words so there's no doubt I didn't make a typo here. One Hundred Percent. After you converted this property or space to rental use, it was one hundred percent business use. What you used it for prior to the date of conversion doesn't count.

RENTAL PROPERTY ASSETS, MAINTENANCE/CLEANING/REPAIRS DEFINED

Property Improvement.

Property improvements are expenses you incur that add value to the property. Expenses for this are entered in the Assets/Depreciation section and depreciated over time. Property improvements can be done at any time after your initial purchase of the property. It does not matter if it was your residence or a rental at the time of the improvement. It still adds value to the property.

To be classified as a property improvement, two criteria must be met:

1) The improvement must become "a material part of" the property. For example, remodeling the bathroom, new cabinets or appliances in the kitchen. New carpet. Replacing that old Central Air unit.

2) The improvement must add "real" value to the property. In other words, when  the property is appraised by a qualified, certified, licensed property appraiser, he will appraise it at a higher value, than he would have without the improvements.

Cleaning & Maintenance

Those expenses incurred to maintain the rental property and it's assets in the useable condition the property and/or asset was designed and intended for. Routine cleaning and maintenance expenses are only deductible if they are incurred while the property is classified as a rental. Cleaning and maintenance expenses incurred in the process of preparing the property for rent are not deductible.

Repair

Those expenses incurred to return the property or it's assets to the same useable condition they were in, prior to the event that caused the property or asset to be unusable. Repair expenses incurred are only deductible if incurred while the property is classified as a rental. Repair costs incurred in the process of preparing the property for rent are not deductible.

Additional clarifications: Painting a room does not qualify as a property improvement. While the paint does become “a material part of” the property, from the perspective of a property appraiser, it doesn’t add “real value” to the property.

However, when you do something like convert the garage into a 3^rd bedroom for example, making a  2 bedroom house into a 3 bedroom house adds “real value”. Of course, when you convert the garage to a bedroom, you’re going to paint it. But you will include the cost of painting as a part of the property improvement – not an expense separate from it.