Residential Rental Housing Tax Incentive Act of 1981

Residential Rental Housing Tax Incentive Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer election to depreciate new: (1) residential rental property under the straight line method based on a period of 120 months; and (2) low-income rental housing under the same method based on a period of 96 months.

Exempts residential property, residential rental property, and low-income housing from the requirement that construction period interest and taxes related to such property be amortized instead of deducted currently.

Expands eligibility for accelerated depreciation of rehabilitation expenditures for all types of rental housing, not just low-income rental housing. Increases the eligible amount of depreciable low-income housing rehabilitation expenditures to $30,000.