Tax Year Prior to 2020: Do I have to claim income from renting a room in my primary residence if I'm not making any money comparative to costs?

[mradamski80]

I cannot get the pop-up to happen again during the federal review to allow me to change the % of the house we use for the rental. I cannot bring up Schedule E per your instructions, because when I click on it, it just takes me to the wizard for the rental property. I'm trying to get into the "guts" of the actual schedule E document so that I can edit that percentage.

[ColeenD3]

Please see the screenshot below. It is in the initial set-up for the rental property.

[mradamski80]

Thanks, but I still do not see it when I go back through that part. I'm using Premier, by the way.

[RobertG]

I would suggest that you schedule a callback with a TurboTax expert to get this resolved.  

The expert will be able to see your TurboTax screens to guide you screen-by-screen and offer advice.

To schedule a call, click on 'Help' in the top of your screen on the right.

Then select 'Contact us'

Then 'Talk to a person'

@mradamski80

[gomoolson62]

I'm having the exact same struggles with a room we're renting out in our house.  In short, how do we properly allocate expenses, based in square footage being rented out (the one bedroom), when TurboTax is not asking for the square footage information.

[gomoolson62]

That's not working for me.  I checked the "I rent out part of my home" but it does NOT prompt me (in subsequent screens) to say how much square footage is being rented out.

[mradamski80]

Yes, you are correct. I design web interfaces like TurboTax for a living, and regardless of the advice you'll see in this thread, the system is unequivocally designed improperly for this particular situation.

[DS-CA]

@mradamski80   I have been struggling with these same topics in the Deluxe version (CD) for weeks and I thought maybe because I didn't get Premier.  I appreciate the struggle you have been having and it appears Premier is as confusing as Deluxe.   The interview doesn't always make it clear the scope of what they are asking.  For example Enter Common Expenses - is it the portion for the part of the house I rent or for the entire house.   If it makes you feel any better I can access Sch E and it hasn't been much help.  I'm about to plug in numbers just to make it add up correctly between Schedule A and E and file.  I also found a discrepancy between how TT defined Personal Use and how IRS Schedule E instructions defines it.  I'm going with the IRS and a TT employee said I should follow my own interpretation.  If it might help please check out the conversation here:  https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/investments-and-rental-properties/discussion/re-mortgage-interest-...

[DaveF1006]

     Here is how it works: When you begin the rental section in your return,:

       1) in the interview, you will reach a screen that asks, "Do any of These Situations apply to This Property?"

       2) Select I rent out part of my home.That will create the correct path for you.  

       3) Yes to let Turbotax calculate the expenses for you

       4) Next screen "enter use percentage" this where the  % goes for Turbotax to do the calculation.

       5) Enter rental use percentage

Once this done, you will enter expenses for the entire house and Turbo Tax will automatically determine the expenses for the rented portion

[lauramb32]

I rented a room out of my home from Aug-Dec in 2019. I'm on a screen that says "Enter Common Expenses" and it lists things like "Advertising, Travel, Cleaning, etc." There is a box that says "Utilities." Do I enter all my utilities expenses for 2019, all utilities expenses for aug-Dec, or just 50% for my roommate (or some such calculation based on what she used)? What about the boxes for insurance and real estate taxes?

[elle21052105]

Can I still get the mortgage interest deduction? I am in a similar boat, I rent out a room to a friend who pays me via check every month. Also, on a side note, I am filing for partial unemployment and probably would be a crime if I did not report this income.

[slbarsness]

I am having exactly the same struggle. I have been through the property profile 5 times, checked the box that I rent out part of my home and NOWHERE is there an option to have Turbo Tax calculate it for me. Later in the deductions area, it also, suddenly, starts asking me questions about my "vacation" property, although I never checked anything that indicated it is vacation property. And it is not. It is a room in my primary, and only residence.

Like the last comments, I rent a room to a colleague. I started renting the room in October 2019 so I just need to claim income and expenses for this time. NOT clear at all.

So none of this helped. Do I need to call?

[whase22]

no my sister has 3  houses for rent she never reporte any taxse she get a lot of mony 

[isamom1982]

Dear @Hal_Al  - I saw your post about renting a room in our own residence.  I think I followed all your steps  (Zero own use, 100% business use, entry of square footage room vs entire house, etc.).  But I noticed now that TTax generated a Form 4562 for this room rental that shows a very small "Cost (Net of Land)":  It comes to 0.11% of the Cost Net of Land that we entered for our residence even though the square footage share of the room we rent out is equivalent to 28% of the residence.

Is that correct?  Should the "Cost" even be pro-rated down on Form 4562. Or should that rather be done to arrive at the "depreciable base" (which I would expect to be 28% of the Cost?

Thank you for clarifying.

[AmyC]

If the room is 28% of the house, it could also be paying 28% of the land value and property tax. If you want to remove the land value from the cost basis and not have the room related to the land, you can. Land does not depreciate so by having it as a part of the room, the 4562 depreciation schedule has to remove land before making calculations.

Just be sure you have good notes in your investment notebook so you don't forget in the future what you did.

@isamom1982