Short Term Rental- Schedule E or Schedule C?

[adamsk08]

I rented out my primary residence on Airbnb for about 20 weekends last year. I handled all of the booking/cleaning/guest communication myself. Do I file this under Schedule E or Schedule C? I'd like to file as self-employed (schedule c) because I have a loss from another self-employed business that would help offset some of the Schedule C rental income, but it doesn't seem to offset Schedule E rental income. 

[ingt]

Schedule C

[ingt]

Where is schedule C

[Tonita · Accepted solution]

Short-term rentals are reported on Schedule E using the instructions below:

1. Go to Tax Tools > Tools > Topic Search
2. Type rental in the search box and click Go.
3. Answer Yes to Do you want to review your rental and royalty information.
4. Proceed through the interview to set up your rental property. 
   
5. When you get to the Review Your "Rental Property Address" Summary screen, click Start in the Expenses section.

Please click the link below for more information regarding short-term rentals:
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/rental-property/renting-out-a-room-on-airbnb-or-flipkey-how-muc...

[GuyNoir]

According to the instructions for Form 8582, "An activity is not a rental activity if any of the following apply. 1. the average period of customer use is: a. 7 days or less...." 

Most AirBnB hosts, including those that only host during the week-end, host for an average of 7 days or less. Consequently, they are not engaging in a Rental Activity, and should be using Schedule C.  An advantage of using Schedule C, is that losses can be deducted more generously. 

[Carl]

THere's no question about this being a SCH C business, just based on the "7 days or less" rule/requirement. The fact it was in your primary residence is a good indicator that you provided the guest additional services on a recurring basis during their short stay also.

 - at least 1 meal a day weather the guest accepted that as part of their "package" or not.

 - Ensuring they had a clean bathroom to utilize (be it their own bath or if the house only has one bath, that "communal" bath room.)

 - Provided clean towels & washcloths

 - You may or may not have provided bed making services each morning after the guest was "out" for the day or whatever.

THis is a SCH C business. Understand that you will claim the space that was exclusive to the guest/renter as a "home office' so that the program will be able to work you through the screens to figure how much depreciation you can take. I'm sure you're already aware that you are required by law to take depreciation on the space that was exclusive to the renter.

Now you say that you only rented it out on weekends. However, if the space/room was "available for rent" for 7 days a week, then the business use percentage for that space is 100% from the date it was available for rent, through the date it was no longer available for rent and converted back to personal use. (Assuming you reached a point during the tax year where it was no longer available for rent, that is.)

[Critter]

https://royallegalsolutions.com/is-my-airbnb-subject-to-the-self-employment-tax