Buyer's Guide - If you own a rental property
If you're collecting rent from someone living in a house or other dwelling that you own or even from a room you rent out in your own home, you're a landlord and generally must report the rent you're collecting as income on your tax return.
In nearly all cases, TurboTax Premier is the ideal product for you. Read through the next few items and choose the one that describes your rental situation to learn how TurboTax Premier will help you maximize your rental deductions and demystify the complexities surrounding rental properties and taxes.
Do you own a duplex or other multi-family home, live in part of it, and rent out the rest?
If this is your situation, you probably know that you divide your home-related expenses between the rental portion and your personal portion when doing your taxes. TurboTax Premier gives you the option of entering all of your expenses at once, then divides them between the deductible rental property portion and the nondeductible personal portions accordingly so that you don't have to. Alternatively, if you've done the bookkeeping yourself, you can tell TurboTax exactly what your deductible expenses are related to the rental. Either way, our Rental Property Expert will make sure you get every rental deduction to which you're entitled.
Do you own a second home or timeshare that you rent out to others for part of the year?
If you're renting your vacation home or timeshare to others for part of the year, special tax rules apply to you. Whether and how you report your income and expenses depends on how many days you used the property yourself as compared to how many days you rented it out. TurboTax Premier will determine the appropriate way to report your income and deductions based on the entries you make, and the Rental Property Expert will thoroughly analyze all possible deductions you can take for your vacation home.
Do you share ownership of your rental with someone else?
If you're in this situation, TurboTax Premier will give you the option of entering all rental income and expenses then allocate them between you and the other owners, or, if you do your own bookkeeping, you may enter only your share.
Do you own 100 percent of your rental?
This is the most common situation for rental owners. TurboTax Premier includes our expanded step-by-step interview for your rental income, expenses, depreciation, and automobile use.
The Rental Property Expert provides real-life examples of each expense deduction designed to trigger your memory about expenses you may have forgotten about.
If you refinanced your rental property during the year, the Rental Refinance Expert will figure out how much of the refinancing fees are deductible every year for you.
In addition, the Fair Market Rent Expert will help you determine whether you're charging a fair amount of rent for your area. This invaluable tool helps you avoid having your rental deductions disallowed by the IRS because the amount you're charging for rent is too low.
