Part Rental/ Air BnB Tax Returns

When you rent out part of your home, (not to friends or relatives) either privately or using a sharing platform like Air BNB, you need to declare all the income and may be able to claim a deduction for expenses relating to it.

In order for us to work out what part of the costs belong to renting and which part belongs to your personal use, we need you to supply the following details.

• The entire size of the house’s living areas (eg. The area of the house or the area of the house with a separate granny flat)
• The size of the area being only used for renting out (eg. a bedroom and ensuite or granny flat)
• The size of the areas that are private (eg. Your own bedroom and ensuite, maybe a study or a garage etc. anywhere the tenants you rent to, are not given use of)
• The size of the remaining area that is communal (eg. Shared lounge room, bathroom, hallway, kitchen, laundry etc)
• The date you first started renting out part of your home.

We suggest doing a mud map (see example below) or plan of the house with all of the areas measured in square metres and labelled.

Example mud map (Total size 136m2, Rental 8m2, Private 12m2, Communal 55m2)

We suggest you get a written property valuation at the date you first rent it, for capital gains tax purposes, to give us a starting point/value in case you need to pay capital gains tax when you eventually sell the property. Generally, if you rent it out for less than 6 years, and then make that part of the property your home again, you will avoid paying capital gains tax. 

We also need records of the income and expenses in relation to the property

• Rent received
• Rates (you can claim a percentage of these)
• Water (you can claim a percentage of these)
• Interest on home loan (you can claim a percentage of these)
• Electricity (you can claim a percentage of these)
• Insurance (you can claim a percentage of these)
• Internet (If shared with tenant) (you may be able to can claim a percentage of these)
• Maintenance on the whole house (you can claim a percentage of these)
• Maintenance on the rented room
• Pest control (you can claim a percentage of these)
• Any other expenses relating to the property or rental

An example of the sort of spreadsheet you should keep to track the income and expenses is available here is available here

Preparing and providing all of the info for your part rental is tricky, but don’t worry, that’s what we're here for. When you get to this section of your Gotax Online etax return, we will stop it there and do your return manually for you to ensure that everything you claim is correct and meets the ATO’s standards.

Simple & Easy Online Tax Returns! Start yours now!

Speedy Gonzalez $10, Not too much to claim $38.50, One with the lot $64.95 and if it’s your first time, do it for FREE!

Note that the information provided is general in nature and subject to change, please contact one of our professionals who can evaluate your circumstances and provide more accurate advice to your current situation.