Cost Segregation Study (CSS) Template Overview

The CSS Template offers a comprehensive suite for conducting a detailed cost segregation study, allowing users to:

Define Depreciation: Manually set depreciation percentages for every asset category, enhancing granularity.
Accelerated Depreciation: Segregate components to capitalize on accelerated depreciation schedules. Instead of the typical 27 or 39-year timeline, parts can be categorized into more aggressive 5/10/15-year schedules.
Tax Benefits: Although the overall depreciation remains constant, with CSS, the tax benefit is realized earlier, leading to better cash flow. This cash can be reinvested, and due to the time value of money, there’s an actual gain in accessing a higher depreciation expense at the earliest, as allowed by the IRS.

Key Features:

Data Input:

Property purchase date.
Tax year of the CSS execution.
Discount rate.
Tax rate.
New depreciation categories, e.g., land improvements, parking lots, and personal property.
Their respective annual depreciation rates.

Output Analysis:

Allocation overview (pre and post-CSS) with a visual pie chart.
Yearly depreciation comparison: standard versus cost segregation approach. The annual differential, when multiplied by the tax rate, gives the yearly benefit in present value terms.

Note: If the study is executed years post the initial purchase, the template adjusts accordingly. The tax benefit for the first year might encapsulate variances from the preceding years. The model’s discount rate will also adapt to the study’s timing relative to the purchase. While future years may show a net negative benefit, the emphasis is on the present-time value of money. Consequently, future negative values have a diminished present-day value, as do future positive cash flows.

Important: A property can undergo a cost segregation study only once during its ownership.