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Yes, which means you report $500 less in assets when you will out the FA forms. Your assertion that “Calling savings/checking assets is a stretch” is false, there is a line on the FA forms in the assets section for the balance in your savings/checking account on the day you file the form. It is absolutely an asset.</p>
<p>The tax code lets you deduct the value of the asset used in a rental from your income over time via depreciation. Profile schools may or may not let you do this, by adding the depreciation (or some part of it) back into your income. They may also add back in other expenses you’ve claimed such as mileage or repairs costs or who knows what else, the schools don’t say. It’s their money, they can make up whatever rules they want.</p>
<p>Yes, $500 in assets makes very little difference in FA - $25-30. $500 in income can be worth $250 or so, still pretty small in the grand scheme of things.</p>
<p>The killer is when the depreciation from the actual buildings gets added back in. I just went and added up the depreciation I claimed last year, and it was north of $40,000. This could add $20,000+ to my Profile EFC if it was all added back in. If the school disallows other expenses, it would be even higher.</p>