Hosting for homeowner

[Lisa6785]

Hi all,

I am hosting an Airbnb that is owned by someone else. I do all the work and he makes 75%. He wants me to have all the funds from the property to go into my bank account and then I pay him 75%. It seems to be very difficult for him to follow my invoice that I sent him each month so he wants it to be in my name completely and then I pay him his 75%. My question is this… How will this affect my taxes? Does anyone know? Do any of you host for a homeowner? What do you do? Thank you!

[Pat271]

I would think you would set yourself up as a self-employed individual, claim all of the gross rentals, and then treat things like the rent and owner’s fee as expenses.

However, I am not a tax attorney or expert; it might be worth your while to schedule an hour or so to discuss this with one of those.

[Karla533]

@Lisa6785  You definitely need to speak with a CPA. This has tax implications.

[Lorna170]

@Lisa6785   You need to speak with a tax professional.   While I dislike casting aspersions, if he wants you to take in the income (taxable to you) and then pay him 75% of the proceeds, he may be trying to avoid his own income tax.   You need to be sure that you have the tax ramifications down prior to agreeing to act in this manner, as you will probably have to submit some kind of 1099 to show that the income went to him.

Of course, maybe the owner is elderly and getting less able to handle their own affairs (i.e., can't make sense of your invoices) so the request may be reasonable.

[Lisa6785]

Exactly I want to avoid the tax implications. No he’s not elderly he’s a major alcoholic and doesn’t keep track of anything. It’s been very difficult to deal with him but I think I’m just going to keep doing it the way I do my other ones which is invoice and have him pay me back.

[Brandi124]

If you receive 100% of the funds then your income for the year is 100% of them and what you will be taxed on.  I host 2 properties that are owned by someone else. I invoice her and become an expense to her just like her homes and the upkeep of them. She gives me a 1099 for what she's paid me, then I claim that income only. It has big tax implications and I would speak with a professional before agreeing to this

[Lisa6785]

Exactly, I would like to avoid all of that. He’s a very difficult person to work with and it’s not for lack of my trying. With my other houses that I host for homeowners I invoice them every two weeks and have never had an issue but this guy is making it difficult.

[Sarah977]

@Lisa6785  Then drrop him and try to find another co-hosting job to fill the gap. Why work for a  difficult alcoholic homeowner?