What Tax Deductions Are Available for Airbnb Hosts?

Airbnb hosts can deduct the same ordinary rental expenses as other landlords, plus costs specific to hosting: the service fee Airbnb takes from each payout, cleaning and turnover, guest supplies, and furnishings. How much of the shared home costs (mortgage interest, property tax, insurance, utilities) you can deduct depends on how many days you rent the place and how many days you use it yourself. If you use the home yourself and rent it fewer than 15 days in the year, you report none of the income and deduct none of the rental expenses. If you provide hotel-like services, the income moves from Schedule E to Schedule C and you owe self-employment tax.

What is the 14-day rule?

The IRS treats a rental as your home for the year if your personal use is more than the greater of 14 days or 10% of the days it was rented at a fair price. If the place counts as your home and you rent it for fewer than 15 days, Publication 527 says the rental is not reported at all: no income on Schedule E and no rental deductions. You can still deduct mortgage interest, property taxes, and qualified casualty losses on Schedule A if you itemize.

A day of personal use is any day the unit is used by:

• You or a co-owner, for personal purposes
• A family member (spouse, sibling, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild), unless they pay a fair rent and it is their main home
• Anyone who pays less than a fair rental price
• Anyone under a swap that lets you use another property

Days you spend working substantially full time on repairs and maintenance do not count as personal use, even if family members are there with you.

How do you split expenses between rental and personal days?

If you use the place for any personal days, divide shared expenses by this fraction: days rented at a fair price divided by total days the unit was used. Days it was listed but not booked do not count in either number.

Example. You own a vacation condo. In 2026 it is booked 120 nights, you and your family use it 30 days, and it sits empty and listed for another 40 days.

• Total days used: 120 + 30 = 150
• Rental share: 120 / 150 = 80%
• Shared costs of $18,900 (mortgage interest $9,000, property tax $3,000, insurance $1,500, utilities and internet $3,000, HOA dues $2,400) give $15,120 of rental expenses
• Costs that relate only to the rental, such as $1,100 in Airbnb service fees, $4,800 in guest turnover cleaning, and $700 in guest supplies, are not split by days, so all $6,600 counts

Your 30 personal days are more than the greater of 14 days or 12 days (10% of 120), so the condo counts as your home. That matters only if your expenses, including depreciation, exceed your rental income. Rental agency fees can be deducted even if rental expenses exceed rental income. If you itemize, qualifying rental portions of otherwise deductible mortgage interest and property taxes can also exceed that limit. Deductions for the home's operating expenses and depreciation are limited to the rental income left after those deductions; disallowed amounts carry forward to the next year for the same property under the same limits. Publication 527's Worksheet 5-1 runs this math. The personal-use share of mortgage interest and property tax can still go on Schedule A if you itemize.

If you rent a room in the home you live in, split shared costs by space and, when applicable, by time. Publication 527 accepts any reasonable method, usually rooms or square footage: a 180-square-foot room in a 1,800-square-foot house makes 10% of shared costs a rental expense if the room is held solely for rental use all year. If the room also has personal use, apply the rental-day fraction too; if you convert it to rental use during the year, count only expenses for the rental period. Costs that belong only to the room, such as painting it, need no space split but still follow the personal-use and deduction limits above. For the lease side of sharing your home with renters, see renting part of a property you live in.

When does hosting income go on Schedule C?

Most hosts report on Schedule E, and rental income reported there is not subject to self-employment tax. Publication 527 says to use Schedule C instead if you provide substantial services primarily for the guest's convenience, such as regular cleaning, changing linens, or maid service during a stay. Heat and light, cleaning of common areas, and trash collection do not count as substantial services.

On Schedule C, your net profit is subject to self-employment tax of 15.3% (12.4% for Social Security up to the annual earnings cap, plus 2.9% for Medicare) if net earnings are $400 or more. The IRS has no bright-line list beyond those examples, so if you offer services during a stay, such as mid-stay housekeeping or meals, have a tax professional review whether they are substantial.

How does an average stay of 7 days or less change loss treatment?

Publication 925 says an activity is not a "rental activity" under the passive loss rules if the average guest stay is 7 days or less. You figure the average by dividing total nights booked by the number of bookings: 180 nights across 45 bookings is a 4-night average.

That has two effects when the place runs at a loss:

1. No $25,000 allowance. Long-term landlords who actively participate can deduct up to $25,000 of rental losses against wages (phased out between $100,000 and $150,000 of modified adjusted gross income). That allowance applies only to rental activities, so it does not apply to a short-stay activity.
2. Material participation decides whether the loss is passive. The loss is passive, usable only against passive income, unless you materially participate. Two common ways to qualify are working more than 500 hours on the activity in the year, or more than 100 hours and at least as many hours as anyone else, including cleaners and co-hosts. If you qualify, the loss is nonpassive and can offset wages.

This test is separate from the Schedule C question. A 4-night average stay changes how losses are treated; self-employment tax still depends on the services you provide. If the unit also counts as your home under the 14-day rule, the home rules above apply instead, including their limits on the home's operating expenses and depreciation.

Which deductions are specific to hosts?

• Airbnb service fees. The Form 1099-K Airbnb sends reports your gross booking amounts before its fees are taken out, so the host service fee is a deduction you claim. Publication 527 treats rental agency fees and advertising as expenses tied only to the rental, so they are not split by personal days. See which tax forms Airbnb sends to match the form to your payouts.
• Co-host payouts. Airbnb says payouts to a co-host do not reduce the gross amount reported on your 1099-K. Deduct what you paid the co-host as a management fee; the co-host reports it on their own return.
• Cleaning and turnover. Cleaning service fees, laundry, and replacement linens and towels. The cleaning fee guests pay is part of your gross income, and the cost of the cleaning is the deduction.
• Guest supplies. Toiletries, coffee, paper goods, and cleaning products used for guests.
• Lodging taxes. Occupancy taxes that Airbnb collects and remits for you are left out of your 1099-K gross amount, so you neither report nor deduct them.
• Furnishings and appliances. Furniture and appliances used in a rental are 5-year property. Under Publication 946, items acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025 qualify for 100% bonus depreciation in the first year unless you elect out. Items costing $2,500 or less per invoice or item can be expensed under the de minimis safe harbor if you also record them as expenses in your books under a consistent accounting policy in place at the start of the tax year. You must attach the annual election to your original federal return filed by the deadline, including extensions. Whether to furnish your rental covers the cost side.

The rest of your costs work the same as for any landlord, subject to the rental-use split: mortgage interest, property tax, insurance, utilities, internet, repairs, and building depreciation. The building generally depreciates over 27.5 years if it qualifies as residential rental property, or 39 years if classified as nonresidential. Publication 946 excludes hotels, motels, and other establishments where more than half the units house transient (short-term) occupants from residential rental treatment. Rental operating expense deductions lists them, and how to depreciate a rental property walks through the building math. For the full list of rental deductions, see what rental expenses you can deduct.