I had several trees removed on my rental property. Half of them were removed because they are wrecking a retaining wall, and the other half were removed for aesthetic reasons/future landscaping work. The answer to this would be easy if it cost under $2,500, I would just do a safe harbor election as an expense. However, the cost was $2,550, and I believe that I should technically depreciate it. However, how do I depreciate something that wasn't a capital improvement? Do I just treat it as such, or should I deduct it as an expense?
