In 2019 Airbnb advised its users that they were now reporting to the ATO. This is a reminder to those people that use Airbnb, that this rental income is taxable including when you rent out your main residence (your family home). You can offset expenses against this income e.g. If you rent out your home for 2 weeks then you can claim 2/52 of home loan interest, council rates, house and contents insurances, etc, as well as any specific costs relating to that rental period e.g. towels specifically for guests, basic pantry provisions, etc.
Important to also note (or painfully should I say), is that even though the property might be your main residence, which is normally tax-free if you rent it out via Airbnb for say a few weeks a year the property is now also subject to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on sale on a prorated basis. That’s right it’s no longer entirely tax-free when you sell it. Let’s say you owned the property for 5 years = 260 weeks, and during that time you rented it out for 13 weeks, then when you sell the property 5% (13/260) of the capital gain you make on the property would be subject to CGT.
In this world of ever increasing ATO data matching it’s important for you to be aware of this information. Please keep records of all Airbnb income and related expenses and provide this to us when we do your yearend tax returns. If you have any questions on this subject, please feel free to contact us.
