Shared Living expenses vs rental income

[Vic72]

I've seen this asked before, but the answer was not clear.  I am getting a roommate to share my expenses.  I am not looking for a profit.  They will have full run of the house (except my bedroom). My plan is to have them share my RE taxes, utilities, yard mtc., home insurance, etc.  From one source in this community I have read that you do not have to file anything with IRS if you are doing shared expenses - IS THIS TRUE?  Can't find that anywhere on IRS website. 

And, for further clarification, is it "OK" to "share" the expense of my home insurance and real estate taxes?  And, if it is ok to "share" real estate taxes, then when I file my personal income tax retun\rn, don't I have to reduce the amount I shared with my roommate from my personal filing?  I guess the IRS won't know either way what I shared if it was never reported, but I would not want to evade any tax reporting requirements.

Any insight you can give is helpful.     

[Carl]

I've seen this asked before, but the answer was not clear. I am getting a roommate to share my expenses. I am not looking for a profit.

We can stop there. You have nothing about this to report on any tax return.

[Vanessa A · Accepted solution]

Yes, it is true.  You do not report anything to the IRS when you have a roommate to share expenses. 

Yes, you can share the expenses of homeowners insurance and real estate taxes as well.  If you are itemizing your return, then you would need to reduce the amount of property taxes you claim as a deduction by the amount your roommate pays. If you are taking the standard deduction, there is no affect on your return as you will not report your property taxes on your return.

Homeowners insurance is not deductible so, there is no affect on your return if you itemize.