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Hello, first post here, me and my Girlfriend have been hosting for a few months now (australia) and really enjoying it!
We have an important question though, I am unemployed for a number of reasons however I do NOT claim any benefit whatsoever. My partner is a Nurse and earns around $90,000 a year before tax. My question is;
When we do our tax return is it possible just to do it in my name as I don’t earn any money I’ll never be over the tax free threshold of $18,200 or will we have to declare it as a couple? I’m a little confused as to whether airbnb is worth doing.
Daryl, the way you structure your listing depends on whether you are owning, renting, live in property or not etc and you need the advice of a tax agent or accountant- not advice from mostly US and Europen Based forum users on here who will not be able to help. It will cost you a few hundred and save you lots of grief at tax time. And you always need to declare yours and your partners details on your tax return and the ATO will data match if you don’t. More generally, If it’s s property you both own you can’t pretend the rental income is yours alone; if your renting you might not need to pay tax if you are doing it like a flat mate situation or you want want to set it like a homestay where you can have 2 guests tax free if you are providing some meals and not charging to make substantial profit.
I agree you/your partner need advice for a local accountant who deals with taxation issues.
Are you as the non working partner looking to run the BNB on a self employed basis? If so, you can probably put it down for your tax return at least you can in the UK - I don’t know how tax laws work over there.
Whether BNB is worth doing is only a decision you as a couple can make. - You may feel better as the partner who isn’t contributing financially if you can bring some income into your relationship by running AIRBNB and doing the work associated with it.
Well in the U.S. there’s no reporting requirement from the AirBnB side to the tax authorities unlessd you have over 200 transactions and over $20,000 in revenues so it is very flexible what you choose to report, haha.
Good advice above about asking a professional. But when you do, be sure to have full details of all the costs associated with your rental. Often hosts underestimate these.
The US has a long and proud tradition going back to the mid 1700s of “the people” thinking they are “sovereign” and that they should decide which taxes should be paid and which should not. In other words, being a tax cheat is a noble pursuit in the US. These people like to refer to themselves as “law abiding citizens” in other contexts. LOLOL.
