My dependent daughter in college lives in our second home and we rent 3 other bedrooms. Is this counted as rental property or second home?

tracyjbphillips — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 00:35:56 GMT

Her name is on the mortgage and deed jointly with ours, but she does not pay the mortgage.
As a millitary member we live in a rental in a different state.

Simple answer: it is a 2nd home and the rental income doe...

Hal_Al — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 00:35:57 GMT

Simple answer: it is a 2nd home and the rental income does not have to be reported.

Longer answer:

If this is merely a cost sharing arrangement where the amount paid is below fair market rental, there would be no reportable income to you. If the “rent” amount is fair market value, or more, There is still some question as to whether you even have to report it, as it almost always comes out zero. Most people take the attitude that it is not income; it's just room mates sharing expenses and ignore it. Family, as opposed to unrelated roommates, makes that position stronger.

Here’s what you may be required to do:

Report the income (enter at Rents & Royalties/Income & expenses from Rental Properties); then deduct the expenses. TurboTax will do this on schedule E. If the room mate has full run of the house, and there's just the 2 of you, then half your expenses are deductible (mortgage interest, property taxes, insurance, utilities, repairs, and depreciation [if needed}). Your net income will usually be less than zero.

What you are NOT allowed to do, because it is your own home (you have "personal use") is claim a loss from this activity, to offset other income. Because of the "personal use rule", your deductions are limited to your income. Net effect ZERO.

It is possible for you to gain a positive tax effect from this activity; If enough of your schedule A deductions (mortgage interest & property tax) are shifted to Schedule E, and your standard deduction becomes bigger than your itemized deductions, you will have effectively saved on taxes.

If you have no mortgage, then there could well be profit involved, which you may have to offset with depreciation that could lead to "recapture" in the future when the property is sold.

topic My dependent daughter in college lives in our second home and we rent 3 other bedrooms. Is this counted as rental property or second home? in Investors & landlords

My dependent daughter in college lives in our second home and we rent 3 other bedrooms. Is this counted as rental property or second home?

Simple answer: it is a 2nd home and the rental income doe...