Who Can Claim Depreciation To claim depreciation, you usually must be the owner of propertyand you must use the property in your trade or business or forproducing income. Example 1.You made a down payment on rental property and assumed the previousowner's mortgage. You own the property and you can depreciate it. Example 2.This year you bought a new van that you will use only for yourcourier business. You will be making payments on the van over the next5 years. You own the van and you can depreciate it. Rented property.Generally, if you pay rent on property, you cannot depreciate thatproperty. Usually, only the owner can depreciate it. For moreinformation on rented property, see Leased property underWhat Cannot Be Depreciated, later. If you make permanentimprovements to business property you rent, you can depreciate thoseimprovements. If you rent property to another person, you can depreciate thatproperty.