I know I can write off the 3% fee charged to a host by Airbnb. The question is, can I write off the fees that Airbnb charges the guest.

[Anonymous_]

The question is, can I write off the fees that Airbnb charges the guest.

No. The fee is imposed on the guest and is not deductible by the host provided the fee does not reduce the amount the host would normally receive.

[nathanreinhold]

Thanks for your reply. I did find this post on andersonadvisors.com, but I don't knowif it applies.

7. Commissions and Fees

The commissions and fees that Airbnb withholds from bookings are also tax deductible. Airbnb will take roughly 20 percent of listings earnings to pay for its backend support. You may be wondering how vacation rental owners can treat these fees and commissions as a deductible expense; it’s because your taxable income is not going to include the price that someone pays to enjoy your vacation rental. You’re just going to report the rental income that Airbnb pays you, which will already have the fees taken out.

This is a rental expense that you have to pay for the privilege of listing your rental property on Airbnb. For tax purposes, you can treat these commissions and fees as an itemized deduction. It should also be mentioned that Airbnb charges lodging tax and occupancy tax in most jurisdictions, so if you’re the property owner of a rental business in one of these jurisdictions, you do not need to collect and pay these taxes. However, this is not true for every jurisdiction, so the best tax advice we can offer in this area is to consult with a tax professional who is familiar with tax liability obligations at the state and local levels.

[Anonymous_ · Accepted solution]

I believe you may have to contact them for further information with respect to how the rental income is calculated and reported to you.

However, I do find it somewhat disturbing that the deduction is referred to as an "itemized deduction", which usually implies that the deduction would be taken on Schedule A; it's not. Any deduction would be reported on Schedule E or Schedule C, not Schedule A. 

Regardless, if you report the gross rental income on your return, then you should be able to deduct any fees that AirBnB deducts from that gross amount. 

FWIW, I have firsthand experience with VRBO and can tell you that they do not deduct the fee charged to the guests (renters) from the amount the owners receive; only a small commission is charged to owners which, in turn, is deductible.

[Beachcomber]

As I also research this issue, it's getting a bit maddening that Anderson and most every other author are vague about how to treat the expense of AirBnB fees, specifically not specifying if you can expense both the guest and host fees or only the host fees.

[Anonymous_]

Deducting the fees the guests pay to AirBnB is not going to be allowed (unless you somehow included those fees as an addition to your rental income).