Tag Archive for Airbnb

Using Online Agents to Rent Your Home Short Term? You May Be Surprised at the Tax Ramifications

If you are among the many taxpayers renting your first or second home using rental agents or online rental services that match property owners with prospective renters, such as Airbnb, VRBO and HomeAway, then you should know the IRS has special rules related to short-term rentals.

When property is rented for short periods, special (and sometimes complex) taxation rules come into play, which can make the rents excludable from taxation; other situations may force the rental income and expenses to be reported on Schedule C (as opposed to Schedule E). Read More

Written by | Posted in Rental Property Tax • TaxConnections

Caring about “Sharing”: Why The IRS Should Do More for Participants in the Gig Economy

In this blog post, I will discuss how the IRS has been dealing with a growing sector of our economy called the “sharing” economy (also known as the gig economy). Proponents of the sharing economy believe it promotes marketplace efficiency by enabling individuals to generate revenue from assets while the assets are not being used personally. For example, a vacation home owner may rent out her home while she is not using it. Airbnb (short-term home rentals) and Uber (shared car services) are two of the more prominent companies that facilitate a sharing economy.

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Written by | Posted in IRS • Sharing Economy

Could Your Airbnb Rental Be Considered A Hotel?

William Rogers

Vacation rentals are nothing new. For centuries travelers have opted to stay in private residences over hotels for a variety of reasons. It’s quite common here in Southern California with the lure of our local beaches and mountains for property owners to rent out their properties on a transient basis. Vacationers have long used the Internet to search for available properties by visiting sites like Craigslist or VRBO.com (Vacation Rentals by Owner).

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Written by | Posted in Real Estate

Sharing Economy Encouraged To Share With And By The IRS

Barry Fowler

If you’ve ever been picked up by an Uber driver or know someone who’s rented a room through Airbnb, then you are aware of the ‘sharing economy.’

In the past few years, the ‘sharing economy’ has become a targeted focal point for the IRS. Needless to say, they really want their “fair share” of this rapidly growing business segment.

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Written by | Posted in 2016 Tax update • Form 1099 • IRS

Tax And Non-Tax Issues of Sharing Residences

We hear a lot about the sharing economy – making money by sharing something you are not fully using, such as a room in your home, or your entire home or vacation home. Sounds like a good way to make some extra money and perhaps raise your standard of living* (note- the rental income is taxable unless the dwelling is rented out less than 15 days for the year (Section 280A(g)). The federal tax treatment (and state as most states follow the federal income tax rules) can be complicated due to the need to determine which of two rules apply to measure deductible expenses and what to do with any loss generated. If the average rental period is 7 days or less, treatment of any income and loss also depends on whether you materially participate.  The income tax rules easily get complex. Read More

Written by | Posted in Income Tax • Tax Tips

How The IRS Is Connected To The Growing Sharing Economy

The Sharing Economy

On the internet, everything is for hire. Last night 40,000 people rented accommodation from a service that offers 250,000 rooms in 30,000 cities in 192 countries. They chose their rooms and paid for everything online. But their beds were provided by private individuals, rather than a hotel chain. Hosts and guests were matched up by Airbnb, a firm based in San Francisco. Since its launch in 2008 more than 4,000,000 people have used it—2,500,000 of them in 2012 alone. It is the most prominent example of a huge new “sharing economy”, in which people rent beds, cars, boats and other assets directly from each other, coordinated via the internet. Read More

Written by | Posted in IRS • Tax Policy