Reference · Tax

Cost Segregation for RV Parks and Campgrounds (2026 Guide)

A cost segregation study is the engineering analysis that turns a single purchase price into a defensible schedule of depreciable components. Without one, an entire commercial real estate acquisition (excluding land value) tends to be depreciated as real property over 39 years. With one, the short-life portion becomes eligible for bonus depreciation in the year it is put into service (year of purchase for most operating properties).

What the study actually produces

A qualified firm inspects the property, reads the closing documents and any construction records, and allocates purchase price across recovery periods. The output is a component schedule with quantities, unit costs, photographs, and the authority relied on for each classification, the file that supports the return if it is examined.

A representative RV park allocation

5-year property

Personal property: appliances, furniture and fixtures in amenity buildings, laundry equipment, certain decorative lighting, security and low-voltage systems.

7-year property

Certain office and operational equipment, and specified site assets depending on classification.

15-year property

Land improvements: roads and drives, RV pads, utility distribution to the pads, water and sewer lines, electrical pedestals, site lighting, fencing, signage, landscaping, pools, playgrounds, and pavilions that are not permanent structures.

39-year property

Permanent structures (if permanently affixed): clubhouses, bathhouses, management offices, and their structural systems.

Land

Never depreciable, and always carved out first.

The reason RV parks stand out is the ratio between the third bucket and the fourth. A property whose value sits in pads, utilities, and roads has a far higher short-life allocation than an apartment complex or a hotel of the same price.

Timing

A study is most valuable in the year a property is placed in service, when the reclassified components can be paired with 100% bonus depreciation. A look-back study on a property already owned is also possible; the cumulative catch-up is generally claimed through an accounting method change rather than by amending prior returns. Either way, the study should be commissioned before a tax return is filed.

What makes a study you can feel comfortable relying on

A study performed without a site visit, without engineering support, or without citation to authority is the kind of study that does not hold up to IRS scrutiny. The IRS Audit Techniques Guide for cost segregation describes what a defensible study contains.

What a study does not do

It does not create deductions out of nothing; it accelerates the timing of deductions the owner was already entitled to. It does not change the passive activity rules, basis limits, or at-risk limits that govern whether a specific investor can use the deduction. And it does not eliminate depreciation recapture at sale.

How this fund uses it

Every acquisition is underwritten on in-place performance first, with the tax result treated as a benefit rather than the thesis. A cost segregation study is commissioned on each property, and 100% of the resulting bonus depreciation benefit is allocated to limited partners, subject to partnership tax rules and each investor’s individual limitations.