Photo by Vladimir Solomyani on Unsplash

If you are a host who uses Airbnb or other short-term rental websites to rent out a spare room or your entire home, you might want to carefully check that your taxes are filed correctly this year.

Safe to say, Airbnb has become the go-to service for consumers looking for an alternative to traditional hotels. At the same time, Airbnb allows hosts to earn additional income by short-term renting a house, apartment or spare room. But many hosts might not know that Airbnb earnings aren’t simply “free money.” In the U.S., hosts are required to pay taxes on short-term renting earnings – even if the host does not own the property.

To help demystify the specific tax rules that apply to Airbnb hosts, Nolo, a resource for legal guides and advice for consumers and businesses, recently published Every Airbnb Host’s Tax Guide. This first-of-its-kind tax guide is specifically written for short-term rental hosts by tax expert and attorney Stephen Fishman.

If your home or room was rented out for less than 14 days, you’re in luck, as any money you gained is completely tax-free. However, the majority of hosts rent rent out their places for longer than two weeks, so if that’s you, here are three of the most valuable takeaways for Airbnb hosts to save money this tax season, according to Fishman.

How the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act affects Airbnb hosts

The new tax law allows you to deduct expenses without it counting toward the personal deduction limit of $10,000. In addition, hosts are also able to deduct rental expenses like fees paid to a rental agency and the cost of cleaning and repairs on the space you are renting out.

What if you don’t report your short-term income to the IRS?

As you might suspect, there are consequences if you don’t report your income accurately, which Fishman warns can leave you with hefty fines.

“If you don’t report your short-term rental income and the IRS discovers it, you’ll have to pay taxes on the income, plus interest and penalties,” says Fishman. “You could have to pay a negligence penalty of 20% of what you underpaid. This can really add up.”

It’s not just Airbnb that is taxed

Lastly, don’t forget that the new tax laws apply to all short-term rental services, such as VRBO and HomeAway – not just Airbnb.

You can get 20% off Every Airbnb Host’s Tax Guide from the Nolo website by adding this code at checkout: bbanb20

Money-saving tips for Airbnb hosts this tax season

If you have ever had a credit card stolen, you understand the value of monitoring your credit in order to make sure you aren’t liable for charges made by a thief. Besides erroneous charges, identity thieves may be able to open up new accounts and lines of credit in your name; a problem that can lead to debt collectors calling you non-stop.

It’s always been important to monitor your credit, perhaps now more than ever. According to this 2018 fraud study, over 16 million Americans were victims of fraud with monetary losses approaching $17 billion. 35 percent of those breaches were related to social security numbers and 30 percent were related to credit cards.

While plenty of credit card companies are actively watching for fraud, you can also closely watch your accounts with monitoring products like myFICO. Keeping an eye on your Experian, TransUnion and Equifax reports, myFICO actively watches for monitored changes and can alert you if there’s an identified issue with your credit. It provides access to the 28 most commonly used FICO Scores including FICO Score 9.

In addition, myFICO offers help if your identity is stolen. For instance, if your wallet or purse is stolen, a myFICO rep will help you cancel your credit / debit cards and get new ones. A certified resolution specialist can also help you restore your personal information and financial identity. On top of that, the company offers up to one million dollars in theft insurance, which may help cover expenses for legal fees or lost wages.

myFICO has a few subscription options for consumers concerned about identity theft. There’s a monthly refresh option of all three reports for $39.95 a month as well as a quarterly refresh option at $29.95 per month. More information about both products can be found at the link below:

Click Here to check myFICO

*This post was sponsored by myFICO. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.

The Importance of Monitoring Your Credit

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It’s tough to imagine a world without data immediately accessible at your fingertips. While I did grow up in the world that existed before the iPhone was a blip of an idea inside the head of Steve Jobs, I’ve become so accustomed to whipping out my smartphone and looking up something withing seconds. The same goes for accessing digital content, like video games and movies, as well as reading email, watching silly YouTube videos and getting lost in the front page of the Internet.

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