topic Parent lives on secondary house , rental income? in Investors & landlords

Parent lives on secondary house , rental income?

krslnguyen — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 12:26:08 GMT

Hello there,

My primary residence in in WA, however, my brother and I co-own a house in Oregon - which is technically still my brother's primary residence, but he's away for his priesthood seminartian, my parents live on it. The house is already paid off, but I do pay yearly taxes and home owner insurance under my name.

My question is that, i don't charge my parent rent, but they do pay me for the utilities. The utilities bills is under my name and my dad's name, the utiliies payment charges directly to my credit card, and my dad paid me back for the utilities bill each month. Do I have to count the money that my dad pay for the utilities on my taxes as rental income?

My thinking is no because there's no rental contract, he's paying me back for the utilities bill that they used living in the house. The home is still a primary residence for my brother, which he comes from on the weekend.

Thank you for your help and answer,

Rose

Re: Parent lives on secondary house , rental income?

MonikaK1 — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 03:59:51 GMT

If your parents are merely reimbursing you for the utilities they are using while they are living in a home that you own, this would be considered sharing expenses and not rental income or a landlord/tenant relationship and therefore not reportable as income.

See this thread for further discussion of this topic.

See this IRS article for information on rental income and expenses.

Re: Parent lives on secondary house , rental income?

krslnguyen — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 05:52:25 GMT

Thank you so much for your answer !