Schedule E days rented

[stevestaab]

Sched E Line:   Days rented at fair market value.  Available for rent at fair market value or the day it was rented.  I have a condo in North Carolina that was available for rent thru a management company except for the 5 weeks I used it last year.  It rented 32 days.  How do I account for the days it was not used by me or rented to others even though it was available??

[Anonymous_ · Accepted solution]

The days you actually used the condo are personal use days and the days rented (or available for rent) are rental days.

[Critter-3]

Since this is a vacation home rental you will enter the # of days actually rented and the # of days personally used.  

[Anonymous_]

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@Critter-3 wrote:

Since this is a vacation home rental you will enter the # of days actually rented and the # of days personally used.  

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Yes, technically correct but TurboTax really makes a mess of the vacation rental scenario.

For example, if you enter 30 personal use days and 30 days rented, it will split expenses that should not necessarily be split as a result of the manner in which it is programmed; it will allocate a total of $500 for cleaning expenses after renters depart as only $250 deductible on Schedule E (the other $250 is allocated to personal use). 

In order to get the expenses correct, it appears as if you have to do the prorating manually.

[AmeliesUncle]

I agree with Critter.  You only enter the days it was ACTUALLY rented.  Because you used it for personal use, the days it was available for rent (but not actually rented) are not factored in at all.

As Tagteam pointed out, you need to be careful about which category you use.  In Tagteam's example, if you spent $500 for cleaning for both personal and rental use, yes, the program is correct in allocating $250 to rental and $250 to personal.  If you spent $500 specifically for rental cleaning, then you need to adjust things.   Except for rental-specific categories (such as advertising), most categories are automatically prorated based on the number of days.  If I remember correctly, if you enter it as an "other" expense it will use it as a 100% rental expense (such as cleaning costs ONLY for the rental).

[Anonymous_]

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@AmeliesUncle wrote:

....If you spent $500 specifically for rental cleaning, then you need to adjust things.  

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Unfortunately, there is no way to make that adjustment in the program, beyond entering a fictitious figure. So, in my example, a user would have to enter $1000 in order to get $500 as the cleaning expense that was incurred after rental use on Schedule E.

Expense categories such as cleaning, repairs, and supplies are all prorated by the program regardless of whether some, or all, of the amounts expended were attributable exclusively to the rental use or not.

[AmeliesUncle]

That is why I suggested the "other" expense category that does not prorate things.  🙂

[Anonymous_]

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@AmeliesUncle wrote:

That is why I suggested the "other" expense category that does not prorate things.  🙂

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I understand that, but there are actually two "other" expense categories in the program; one is just a total of all "other" expenses and the other is the miscellaneous expense category, which allows the user to enumerate the expenses with a description. 

Again, unfortunately, all of the expense items in the miscellaneous category are prorated by the program.

EDIT: It is actually the reverse of what I stated. However, it would appear odd to me if the "Cleaning and maintenance" line on Schedule E was left blank and then a miscellaneous expense entitled "Cleaning" was inserted with an amount.

[stevestaab]

To help understand the exact lines you refer to as "other" and "miscellaneous" please denote line numbers on the IRS forms.  Thanks

[DanielV01]

@stevestaab  On Schedule E (tax year 2020), the Cleaning and Maintenance expenses appear on Line 7, whereas "Other Expenses" appear on Line 19.  Technically speaking, the Form does not contain a "Miscellaneous" Line.  Miscellaneous expenses would be listed and totaled under Line 19.  If more space is needed to break down different "Miscellaneous" items and the amounts, a separate attachment can be provided (which TurboTax provides through correct entries in the interview, even when e-filing).  

To assist you to visualize this, you can click on this link to view a copy of Schedule E Form 1040 2020