# Painting and my home's cost basis

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painting-and-my-homes-cost-basis/432916>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 10, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painting-and-my-homes-cost-basis/432916 "2008-01-10T00:02:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painting-and-my-homes-cost-basis/432916/1 "2008-01-10T00:02:53Z")

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If I repaint the entire interior of my house as a decorating project (not just painting over old paint to freshen it but using new colors, contrasting trim, etc.) is it a capital improvement or maintenance for tax purposes?

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**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\
**Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/painting-and-my-homes-cost-basis/432916/2 "2008-01-10T01:01:39Z")

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Painting an existing building is normally not a capital improvement, but painting a new building or a new addition usually is an exempt capital improvement.

In either case, the tax exemption is almost always limited to labor, so it’s a moot question if you do the work yourself.