Airbnb Tax Deductions 2026: The Line-by-Line Checklist

If you own a short-term rental (STR), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) lets you deduct the ordinary and necessary costs of renting it. The table below lists 16 deductions, each with its line on Schedule E and Schedule C, its rule, and the record that supports it. 15 have a line on Schedule E. The home office has a line only on Schedule C.

Schedule E is the default. Publication 527 moves a rental to Schedule C only when you provide substantial services primarily for the tenant’s convenience, “such as regular cleaning, changing linen, or maid service.” We explain that test in Schedule E vs. Schedule C for your short-term rental. The deductions are nearly the same on both forms. The line numbers change, and Schedule C profit can carry self-employment tax.

The Line-by-Line Checklist

Line numbers are from the 2025 Schedule E instructions and Schedule C instructions, the current editions.

Schedule E has no line of its own for equipment rental, so it goes on line 19, “Other.”

Pub 527 adds 2 timing rules. You deduct expenses “from the time you make it available for rent,” and you can deduct ordinary and necessary expenses while the property is vacant and held for rent. Lost rental income for a vacant period is not deductible.

The Lines That Need a Log

The IRS standard mileage rate is 70 cents a mile for 2025. For 2026, it is 72.5 cents from January 1 to June 30 and 76 cents from July 1 to December 31, so a 2026 log needs the date of each trip. Pub 527 also says trips “between your home and a rental property generally constitute nondeductible commuting costs” unless your home is your principal place of business.

Travel away from home qualifies only when the main purpose is to collect rent or to manage, conserve, or maintain the property. If the main purpose is to improve it, you cannot deduct the travel as an expense, and you recover the cost through depreciation along with the improvement.

Tax preparation fees are deducted in the year you pay them. In Pub 527’s own example, you can deduct fees paid in 2025 “to prepare Part I of your 2024 Schedule E” on your 2025 Schedule E.

You deduct points, which are prepaid interest, over the life of the loan. In the Pub 527 example, $1,500 of points on a 30-year loan comes to $50 a year under the straight-line method.

Repairs and Improvements

The Schedule E instructions define a repair as a cost that keeps the property “in an ordinarily efficient operating condition,” such as “fixing a broken lock or painting a room.” An improvement betters the property, restores it, or adapts it to a new use, such as replacing an entire heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. You capitalize and depreciate improvements. Pub 527 describes a de minimis safe harbor election that lets you deduct some of those costs on line 19. Keep repairs and improvements on separate invoices.

The 14-Day Rule and Personal Use

Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 280A(d)(1) says you use a dwelling unit as a residence when your personal days exceed “the greater of” 14 days or “10 percent of the number of days during such year for which such unit is rented at a fair rental.” Personal days include days used by family, by anyone paying less than a fair rental price, and by anyone under a swap. A day spent working substantially full time on repairs does not count.

Take a $400,000 cabin, as an example only, rented 200 nights a year with $36,000 of operating expenses. The threshold is 20 nights, the greater of 14 and 10% of 200.

• The owners stay 20 nights. That does not exceed 20, so the cabin is not used as a residence. The expenses are still split by days: 20 of 220 days is personal, so $3,273 of the $36,000 cannot go on Schedule E.
• The owners stay 25 nights. That exceeds 20, so the cabin is used as a residence. 25 of 225 days is personal, so $4,000 is excluded. If the year ends in a loss, Pub 527 says some or all of the excess “can’t be used to offset income from other sources.” It carries forward to next year instead.

5 extra nights moved the cabin under the residence rule. Under section 280A(g), if a unit used as a residence is rented for fewer than 15 days, the rent is not taxable and you cannot deduct expenses because of the rental use. That rule does not block costs such as mortgage interest and property taxes.

Depreciation, Briefly

Depreciation goes on line 18. Pub 527 sets a residential rental building at 27.5 years and puts appliances, carpeting, and furniture used in a residential rental in the 5-year class. The same publication excludes “a unit in a hotel, motel, inn, or other establishment where more than half of the units are used on a transient basis” from residential rental property, so confirm with your tax professional which recovery period applies to a short-stay rental.

Publication 946 says Public Law 119-21, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, reinstated the 100% special depreciation allowance for qualified property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025. Whether a loss can offset your salary depends on the passive activity rules in The STR Tax Loophole in 2026. The cost-seg calculator estimates the first-year figure for your property. For related guides, see Bonus Depreciation in 2026 for STR Owners and What a Cost Seg Study Costs for an STR.

The Host Camp Take

Most of this list is routine. Personal-use days matter most, because that count sets the share of every other line you can claim, and 5 nights can change which rule applies. Start with a calendar that marks every night as a rental, personal, or repair night. [Book a free strategy call](LINK NEEDED) and we will look at your numbers with you.

Host Camp is not a licensed tax, legal, or financial adviser. Confirm figures for your situation with a professional.

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