re: Could you help me understand taxes and my rental property?

I'm not a cpa but I own 3 rentals. My basic understanding is you should be depreciating the property on a 27.5 year scale for the house value not including the land. Let's say the land is worth $20k? $159,000/ 27.5 = $5,781 a year in depreciation.

If you were making about $800/ month then your taxes are about right. That's $9600- $5780, so about $3000 in income which explains what you owed.