Airbnb is a community marketplace for people to list, discover and book lodging around the world. Whether it’s an apartment for a night, a castle for a week, or a villa for a month, Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences, at any price point.
Today, hosts in more than 190 countries welcome travelers into their homes to earn extra money and meet people from all over the world. Airbnb even provides a useful tool to help you evaluate what you can make from simply sharing your space
For Airbnb hosts, earning that extra money requires special attention at tax time.
Above all else, the extra income you take in from offering up your main home on the website may be taxable depending upon the extent you rent out the property during the year. Due to the nature of short-term rentals, special rules apply.
First, if the property is your house that you use personally during the year, and you rent it no more than 14 days per year, the income you receive will not be taxable no matter how substantial the amount. A taxpayer who rents the property less than 15 days per year does not report the rental income or expenses on his or her return at all. This allows a person to rent out his or her home for a short period of time with no tax consequences.
Additionally, to meet this exception, you must use the home for your own personal purposes more than the greater of 14 days or 10% of the total days it is rented to others at a fair rental price.
If you use the house for personal purposes – but not as a home – the rental income and expenses must be reported on your tax return. All the home expenses must be divided between personal and rental.
Also, if you provide substantial services for the convenience of your guests, the income you earn from your Airbnb listing will be subject to self-employment tax on Schedule C of your Form 1040 instead of Schedule E.
Airbnb hosts can find all the information they need to pay their taxes in their host earnings summary on the Airbnb website. Airbnb may also issue you Form 1099-K (Payment Card and Third Party Network Transactions) reporting the gross amount of rent earned during the calendar year. Regardless of whether you receive a Form 1099-K, the rental income you earned from Airbnb is reportable on Form 1040, unless the non-taxable rental exception applies
Still stumped? Good news! HOSTAID has special offers for hosts…