<p>I think what notrichenough is saying is that the school doesn’t care what you spent the $500 on, even if you had to spend it on a refrigerator for your rental. The whole thing isn’t that consistent since if the depreciation is the only thing they add back in, then they would allow for expenses such as advertising, cleaning, paint, and so on. In such a case, the depreciation DOES represent money you actually spent, just that they don’t want to count that. And of course, the school can count or not count whatever it wishes.</p>