Does Airbnb send the IRS any info when less then $20,000 is earned?

Lubov0
Level 1
Stevensville, MD

Does Airbnb send the IRS any info when less then $20,000 is earned?

Its Tax time and I do my own taxes (turbo tax), does anyone know if the IRS gets info from Airbnb regarding host income if the income was less than 6000. I saw that airbnb issues a form to hosts if they earned $20,000 and/or had 200 bookings...

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

74 Replies 74
Melisa1
Level 1
Auckland, New Zealand

I'm trying to figure this out as well.  I had just under 5k income from renting out a second bedroom in my home (33 reservations/121 nights).  This would be my only US income for this year so I want to know if I need to do taxes or not.  Hoping for an answer...


@Melisa1 wrote:

I'm trying to figure this out as well.  I had just under 5k income from renting out a second bedroom in my home (33 reservations/121 nights).  This would be my only US income for this year so I want to know if I need to do taxes or not.  Hoping for an answer...


 

@Martha379 It would seem that if your only income was $5,000 (from all sources including renting on Airbnb) then you would not need to file per this info from H&R Block: 

https://www.hrblock.com/tax-center/income/other-income/how-much-do-you-have-to-make-to-file-taxes/

That said, you need to consider other factors such as where you legally reside (in the US or a foreign country).  If you reside in the US and have income from outside the US you will need to report that income as well with deductions for any foreign taxes paid. 

Best to consult a tax professional. 

Luis-and-Tati0
Level 10
New York, NY

Hi @Lubov0 and @Melisa1

 

No, Airbnb will not send any information to the IRS for hosts that made under 200 reservation/transactions or under $20k..

If you made over $20k and less than 200 they will not send anything as well…

You need to reach the two criteria than they will send it to IRS along with a 1099 to you…

 

Is your responsibility to report your earnings to the IRS

 

 

This is their response to me...

 

Airbnb has reported the payouts and issued a tax form to *************. This was the only taxpayer that earned $20,00 and had over 200 payouts. Both metrics must be met to be issued a form.

Your other taxpayers will not receive a form from Airbnb and we will not report their payouts. As a reminder, you’re responsible for reporting your 2015 Airbnb earnings.

Last year, we received from the Internal Revenue Service new information on income reporting for Airbnb hosts. Based on this information, Airbnb is required to comply with Section 6050-W of the IRS code which means only hosts who earn more than $20,000 and host more than 200 reservations in a calendar year will receive a Form 1099-K.

 

 

Luis

Please give a thumbs up if i helped you today. 🙂

What about if you change tax payers middle of the year?  In which case you could have a potential situation where one tax payer had 100 payouts and $10k and another had 100 payouts and $10k. Would this still trigger the 1099 since overall account had 200 payouts and $20k in earnings. 

Excellent question. I just did this & I'm anticipating that two different tax ID #'s would independently accrue their own tax liability & that it would not be cumulative. However, waiting on Airbnb for more clarity.

Did they get back to you about this?

I accidentally did this last year, when I switched over to my new husbands account.  Each taxpayer is accrued seperately, because they have their own social security number.  So if you do not hit the threshold on each individual account you will not receive a form.

 

However, on the advice of my accountant, I reported all the income on my tax form because all of the income was accrued at the property I owned.  Whether you recieve the form or not, you need to report the income.  If you are caught and audited, all the payout information is online.  Better to enjoy the benefits of the airbnb income and pay the proper taxes on it too.

What happens when I am the one with the account/Tax ID and I own one property and my fiance owns the other. I am the one running th airbnb though, so does he have to take on the income because he owns the home or can I just continue to run it like I have with my own home? We live in both homes the difference is actual ownership. 

 I'm in the same situation and received a 1099 but he didn't. I called airbnb and they said I would have to consult a tax expert.

Are we sure about this?  I only had one transaction for less than a $1000 and I got a 1099-K sent to me.

Per IRS if you have less than 15 nights rental then you do not have to report the income. Not sure why you got the form 1099 but I'm thinking it was not sent to the IRS, and anyway you fall below the threshold of 15 nights. 

Hey Jim, is this annually? the 15 nights.

 

I am thinking about renting a room in my apt for 7 nights a month for 200 a night. 

 

Would I need to report this?

The 14-night limit is annual. If you rent 7 nights a month you will exceed 14 nights per year.
(The IRS says 14 nights. I'm not sure why Jim says 15. Maybe he's saying "less than 15" meaning that 15th night is when you have to start reporting.)