Rental income on final step

[selena-rincon]

I added my rental income on Schedule E ($946) that I earned through airbnb but when I get to the final review where they put all of my income, it says 2018 income $0. Why does it do that? 

[MichaelMc]

Although you do not explicitly say as much, I assume you have received a Form 1099-MISC showing the gross rent amount, issued in your name and SSN. The IRS is going to associate those payments with you, so we need to transfer the earnings to your aunt without you incurring and tax.

I would suggest that you report the payments through Airbnb on Schedule E. In the expenses section of Schedule E, create an equal and offsetting expense. I would use line 19a and include a notation "Passthough to owner, Jane Doe, SSN xxx-xx-xxxx. That creates the first part of a traceable record for the IRS.

Next, you will want to issue a Form 1099-MISC to you aunt. This will be just like the one you received from Airbnb, only with your name, address, and SSN as the Payer, and your aunt's information as the Recipient. You can create, print, and file Forms 1099 at this link: https://quickemployerforms.intuit.com/signin.htm

[selena-rincon]

Thank you for your response! I actually just edited my question because I was able to fill out the information. But I only made $946 in 2018 so I didn't get a Form 1099. Now I'm confused as to why once I'm done with inputting income it shows that my rental income was $0 instead of $946.

[MichaelMc]

If you followed all of the steps, and expensed the pass-through payment to your aunt, your rental income should be zero (0).  The point of the exercise was to move the income to your aunt, not have you taxed on the income.