First, if you rented your property for 14 days or
less, you are not required to report the rental income and will not deduct any
related expenses.
Rental
activity for Airbnb may be reported in two different areas of your tax return,
for specific reasons, and with different outcomes. Please review this article
for a discussion of these options so you may choose the most appropriate place
to report this on your return: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/tax-issues-when-renting-your-home-airbnb-vrbo.html
Most
taxpayers chose to report Airbnb rental activity on Schedule E. If
this applies to you, start under Wages & Income >> Rental
Properties (or search for "Schedule E") and follow these
instructions: Where do I enter income and expenses from a
rental property?
If
you provide services to your guests and choose to report your income from
Airbnb as self-employment on Schedule C, you may be able to use Schedule
C-EZ in the Deluxe and Premier versions of TurboTax Online.
If you are listing your property on Airbnb and do not
own it (i.e., you are a renter) you should enter that you own it, and that you
are an active participant. In terms of your expenses, you can list your
rent but only for the months that your unit was available for rent (pro-rate
the rent if you only rent part of your property and live in the rest).
When TurboTax asks about deprecation and mortgage
expense. leave those blank. You will not depreciate the property.
Finally, if you decide to classify your Airbnb as rental income, since you filed a self-employment Schedule C in last year, closing a business couldn't be easier.
TurboTax will ask you if you disposed of your business during the year.
Once answered - there is nothing else to do for your income tax return. No
additional forms are needed.
