For tax purposes, the IRS enables you to add the cost of improvements (but not money spent on maintenance) to your original purchase price. What's the difference? Well, there is a difference, but as with all matters on which the IRS has an opinion, that difference isn't always crystal clear.
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Capital improvements are things you do to your home that permanently increase its value and lengthen its life. Capital improvements include such things as landscaping your yard, adding a deck, purchasing new appliances (as long as you leave them when you sell), installing a new heating system or roof, remodeling and adding rooms, and so on.
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Maintenance and repair expenses, in contrast, include those types of fix-up items that need to be done throughout your home from time to time. Maintenance and repairs include such things as fixing a leaky pipe or toilet, painting, paying someone to cut your lawn and pull weeds, and the like.
So when you buy a home, keep handy a file folder into which you can dump receipts for your home-improvement expenditures. If you're in doubt as to whether an expense is an improvement or a maintenance item, keep the receipt and figure it out when the time comes to sell your home.