Gardening

[lilly54]

I am a co-resident, small landlord. My tenant reimbursed me for half of the cost of a professional gardener who maintains the law. Should I enter the other 50% as a Maintenance Expense or does my gardening simply become a wash and not get entered since my tenant's part is a reimbursement?

Thanks.

[JotikaT2]

Since you were reimbursed for the gardening expenses, you would not be entitled to a deduction since the reimbursement essentially made you whole again.

[Carl]

Technically, it's a wash and you don't get to deduct it.

However, on the other "technically" side of things, when it comes to rental property all income received from all sources for any reason related to rental property, is included as a part of the rental income. Then the expense would be deductible. So it's still a wash. Claiming the income and the associated expense just increases your book keeping is all.

If feasible, I would suggest you have the tenant pay their share directly to the provider, thus removing you as the middle man for their share. If they're writing a check made payable to you, just have them start making it payable directly to the provider. They can still give you the check, and you just pass it to the service provider along with your share.