Form 3115 — Catch-Up Depreciation
You Left Deductions Behind.
The IRS Built a Form to Let You Go Back and Get Them.
No amended returns. No open tax years. No IRS permission required. A single filing on your current return captures every depreciation deduction you missed since the day you bought your building — in one year, at once. Your CPA files the form. We build the documentation that makes it bulletproof.
What Form 3115 Is — In Plain English
The IRS Calls It a Change in Accounting Method.
Investors Call It a Second Chance.
Under Rev. Proc. 2015-13, Section 6.01, the IRS allows you to change your depreciation method through Form 3115. This captures all the depreciation you should have taken in prior years as a single deduction on your current return — through a Section 481(a) adjustment.
On a $2,000,000 building purchased three years ago with no cost segregation study: standard depreciation taken = $153,846. Correct depreciation you should have taken = $543,000. Your 481(a) catch-up deduction = $389,154. At 37% bracket: $144,000 in immediate tax savings.
$0
Amended returns required — captured on current year return
Auto
Automatic consent procedure — no IRS approval before filing
CPA
Filing is your CPA’s responsibility — we provide complete documentation
481(a)
The adjustment that captures all missed prior-year depreciation in one year
The Lookback Study — Every Step
Exactly What Happens After You Engage Cost Seg America on a Lookback Study.
Most property owners have owned their building for years before they discover cost segregation exists. Every step below is what happens from the moment you contact us to the moment your CPA applies the deduction. Nothing is skipped. Nothing is vague. Every step has an owner and a timeline.
Step 1
You contact Cost Seg America — takes five minutes.
You call 1-888-365-5023 or submit the free proposal form with four pieces of information: property address, purchase price, purchase date, and property type. No tax returns. No financial statements. Nothing sensitive at this stage.
Your action · 5 minutes
Step 2
We estimate your 481(a) catch-up deduction and deliver a written proposal within 24 hours.
Based on your property type, purchase price, and years of ownership, we calculate the range of depreciation you missed and what it is worth today. The proposal includes the estimated 481(a) adjustment, our flat fee for the study, and a straight answer on whether the economics make sense for your property.
Cost Seg America delivers · Within 24 hours
Step 3
You review the proposal, approve the flat fee, and the engagement begins.
Once you approve the proposal and the flat fee is confirmed, the engagement is formalized. We collect the property documentation we need — purchase and sale agreement, prior depreciation schedules, construction records if available. Your CPA is notified that a lookback study is underway.
Your action · Day 3–5
Step 4
Our analysts perform a component-by-component engineering analysis using IRS Approaches 1 and 2.
Every qualifying component in your building is individually identified, measured, and valued — flooring, specialty lighting, electrical systems, low-voltage systems, parking lots, landscaping. Not a software estimate. This is the step that most firms skip. It is also the step that determines how much you recover and what happens if the IRS opens the file.
Cost Seg America · Days 5–50
Step 5
We calculate your 481(a) adjustment — the total catch-up deduction — and document every prior year comparison.
The 481(a) adjustment is the difference between the depreciation you actually took in prior years and the depreciation you were entitled to take under IRS Approaches 1 and 2. We calculate this for every year from your placed-in-service date to the present.
Cost Seg America · Included in study
Step 6
We deliver the completed study to you and your CPA — typically within 45 to 60 days of engagement.
The complete Cost Seg America deliverable includes: the fixed asset report in CPA-ready format, the component unit detail schedule, the 481(a) adjustment schedule, published source citations for every component value, and full IRS Approaches 1 and 2 methodology documentation.
Cost Seg America delivers · Day 45–60
Step 7
Your CPA reviews the study, confirms the 481(a) adjustment, and approves the numbers.
Your CPA reviews the component schedules, verifies the 481(a) calculation against your prior depreciation records, and confirms the adjustment is correctly calculated. If your CPA has questions about methodology, we speak with them directly — CPA to analyst, at no additional charge.
Your CPA reviews · Day 55–65
Step 8
Your CPA prepares and files Form 3115 — attached to your current year tax return.
Your CPA completes Form 3115, attaches the Cost Seg America study and 481(a) adjustment schedule, and files it with your current year return under the automatic consent procedure. No IRS approval required before filing. No amended returns for prior years.
Your CPA files · Tax filing deadline
Step 9
You collect the deduction. Every dollar of missed depreciation — recovered in one year.
The 481(a) adjustment reduces your taxable income in the current year by the full catch-up amount. Your CPA files the 3115. You collect the deduction. Cost Seg America defends the study — no time limits, no hour caps, no additional fees — if the IRS ever opens the file.
Result · Current tax year
The Bottom Line on a Lookback Study
One study. One filing. Every year recovered.
From the day you contact us to the day your CPA files the Form 3115, every step is defined, documented, and owned. Nothing requires you to go back and amend prior returns. The IRS built this mechanism specifically to allow exactly this.
Example — $2M building held 3 years
$389,154 catch-up deduction
$144,027 tax savings at 37%
One return. No amendments.
$144,027 tax savings at 37%
One return. No amendments.
No amended returns — ever.
The 481(a) adjustment captures all prior-year missed depreciation on your current return. Prior returns are never touched, reopened, or modified.
No IRS permission required before filing.
Form 3115 filed under the automatic consent procedure requires no advance IRS approval. Your CPA files it as part of your normal return.
Cost Seg America goes back up to 10 years.
Our standard is to analyze properties going back up to 10 years from the date of acquisition, new construction, or major renovation.
Unlimited audit defense — included at no charge.
Every study includes unlimited audit defense. No hour caps. No time limits. No additional fees.
Find Out What Your Catch-Up Is Worth
Tell Us When You Bought Your Building. We'll Tell You What You Left Behind.
Free analysis. 24-hour response. Flat fee quoted before you commit. If the numbers do not justify the study, we will tell you that directly.
Form 3115 — No Amended Returns — No IRS Permission Required
Every Deduction You Missed Is Still Recoverable.
One Form. One Return. All of It.
Free analysis. 24-hour response. All 50 states. Properties at $250,000 and above. If we cannot find more in deductions than our fee — you owe us nothing.
$144K
Year-1 catch-up tax savings on a $2M building held 3 years with no prior study at 37% bracket