Specialty and Recreational Properties
Gyms, theaters, bowling centers, and similar buildings are usually 39-year property unless a specific activity class applies. Publication 946 class 79.0 is 7-year recreation property and excludes golf courses, stadia, and the buildings that house the assets. The casino matrix is the only recreation-heavy ATG table.
Educational information, not tax advice.
Updated 2026-10-14
Key takeaways
- Recreation buildings are generally 39-year nonresidential real property.
- Asset class 79.0 (recreation) is 7-year GDS property in Publication 946 and excludes theme parks, golf courses, stadia, race tracks, ski slopes, and the buildings housing the assets.
- Asset class 80.0 (theme and amusement parks) is 7-year property and includes park land improvements; it excludes warehouses, administration buildings, hotels, and motels.
- The casino matrix assigns some gaming-area items to class 79.0 and guest-room furniture to class 57.0. Those rows do not automatically apply to a suburban fitness club.
- Interior pools attached to a building stay with the building in the casino and residential matrices; exterior pools on land are 15-year.
- Bonus depreciation as of 2026 can apply to qualified recreation equipment and site work acquired after January 19, 2025, not to the 39-year building.
Specialty properties — theaters, bowling, fitness, indoor sports — are usually 39-year buildings with recreation equipment as personal property. Publication 946 class 79.0 covers assets used in recreation (bowling alleys, billiards, theaters, concert halls, miniature golf) and uses a 7-year GDS recovery period. The class excludes theme parks and specialized land improvements and structures such as golf courses, stadia, race tracks, and ski slopes, and it excludes the buildings that house the assets.
Class 80.0 covers theme and amusement park rides, attractions, and appurtenances and includes park land improvements. It excludes warehouses, administration buildings, hotels, and motels. Rev. Rul. 2003-81 still requires checking asset classes 00.11–00.4 first. A parking lot at a park can be 00.3 if it is not specifically included in class 80.0’s park land improvements — a facts question under that ruling’s utility-versus-parking example.
The IRS casino and gaming matrix (Chapter 7.E) is the only recreation-heavy table in Publication 5653. It puts gaming-area electrical hook-ups and removable casino or theater floor covering in class 79.0 (7-year) and guest-room furniture in class 57.0 (5-year). Those rows do not automatically apply to a suburban fitness club. The ATG says each matrix may not apply to other industries.
Interior pools and pool equipment in, on, or attached to a building are 39-year in the casino matrix. Exterior pools are class 00.3, 15-year. The residential matrix uses the same inside-versus-on-land split for pools and athletic courts. Playground equipment on land is 15-year in Chapter 7.H. Interior courts attached to a building stay with the building.
Fitness equipment, bowling machines, and theater seating are personal-property candidates under Treas. Reg. §1.48-1(c). The room, the sprung floor that is the building’s floor, and general lighting are structural components unless facts support a decorative or equipment-specific exception. Do not say every gym floor “is” 7-year property because class 79.0 exists.
This article is educational information, not tax advice. Proposed Super Intelligence recreation templates are explanatory only.
What class 79.0 and 80.0 do not cover
Class 79.0 does not pull the theater building into 7-year property. The class text excludes the buildings housing the assets. Class 80.0 does not pull a park hotel or administration building into 7-year property. Those exclusions are in Publication 946’s table language as researched for this inventory.
Golf courses, stadia, race tracks, and ski slopes are excluded from 79.0 as specialized land improvements or structures. Their classification is fact-specific and is not given a complete IRS matrix on this page. Confirm activity class with a CPA.
Casino rows versus other recreation
Gaming-area electrical and casino-floor covering use 79.0 in Chapter 7.E. Guest rooms use 57.0. Life-safety generators are building; casino-operations generators are 79.0. Copying those casino-operations rows onto a community gym is an industry-matrix error.
A restaurant or pro shop inside a recreation building can use the restaurant or retail matrix for those assets. The building class remains 39-year unless a narrower statute applies.
Documentation
Equipment lists, seating invoices, pool location (interior versus exterior), and a site plan that separates park land improvements from administration buildings are the useful records. New parks can use actual costs. Acquired properties need land first.
AmeriSouth does not classify theater seating. It remains a caution against listing millwork and ordinary electrical as short-lived property without evidence. Peco Foods can bind a written allocation of a going recreation business.
Bonus depreciation as of 2026
Qualified property acquired after January 19, 2025 is eligible for 100% bonus depreciation under Notice 2026-11. The 39-year building is not qualified property. Seven-year recreation assets, 5-year furniture, 15-year exterior pools and courts, and QIP can be. Binding contracts on or before January 19, 2025 stay on the phase-down.
Later interior improvements of a nonresidential recreation building may be QIP if they meet §168(e)(6). Educational information, not tax advice.
Limits
There is no general recreation matrix beyond casino and hotel. Do not invent a typical recreation reclass percentage. Hotels and motels on a resort campus remain 39-year transient buildings under §168(e)(2) and are excluded from class 80.0.
Confirm whether a particular course, stadium, or indoor sports barn falls in 79.0, 80.0, 00.3, or the 39-year building class with a CPA. Proposed Super Intelligence class-79 screens are explanatory only.
Sources
- 1IRS Publication 946 — How To Depreciate Property (2025)(opens in a new tab)
Appendix B reproduces the Rev. Proc. 87-56 class lives.
- 2IRS Publication 5653 — Cost Segregation Audit Techniques Guide (rev. 2-2025)(opens in a new tab)
Written for IRS examiners. The guide states it is not an official pronouncement of law and cannot be cited as authority. It predates the July 2025 law.
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