From the information supplied it's hard to determine what is going on. IRS Pub 527 discusses rental units.
The following would need to be answered:
1. is the VRBO your home you rent out or is it a place you bought specifically to rent on VRBO. If so when is it available to rent? 100% of a year or 50%?
2. Where are you reporting the activity - are you using Schedule E to report it
3. How many days was the place available compared to when you were there?
4, there are limitations on losses from rentals - if you are not a real estate professional you're limited to $25K per year.
If you don't rent out the property a lot then your expenses might be limited to the amount of the income.
If there are expenses you incurred which were capital improvements to the property (like siding, landscaping, new air, etc.) those might not be currently deductible unless you use depreciation form 4562.
