Yes, fees paid to a staging company are allowable as a cost of sale.
Maybe. In my experience, any real estate agent worth their commission would have recommended getting the house painted well before getting to the point where the house is being staged - which is the last thing done before taking pictures to list the property. That’s because the staging companies I have dealt with don’t do painting - they provide furniture, art, and other decorative elements. Since staging companies aren’t painters, a painter would have to be subcontracted through the staging company, as it would have to be a part of the staging, so it wouldn’t be considered to be maintenance.
Because staging is done so close to putting the house on the market, having the staging company hire out an expedited painting job, in addition to the fee that the staging company will charge to manage the painter, is probably going to be a lot more expensive than hiring the painting out yourself earlier in the process.
So you would have to weigh the additional costs vs. the capital gains taxes that you may be able to save to see if you would come out ahead.
AJ