Canadian Income Tax: When you have a unit in your house you only airbnb for part of the year

[Katherine240]

Our accountant in previous years took all our expenses (utilities, property taxes, linens, dishes, soap, etc) for the year and calculated our personal portion out based on the number of days the airbnb was available for rent (for us it's June, July and August every year). Our accountant then deducted our personal amount and the remainder was claimed as an expense against our airbnb income.

My question is, for things like sheets that we buy for sole use of the airbnb, should we not be deducting these items in full?  Sheets, towels, pots, pans etc that we buy and are only used for the airbnb I believe should be expensed at 100%, but things like utilities, property taxes, and items we share (bulk purchases of soap or toilet paper) should be expensed according to the calculation explained in my first paragraph.

Does this make sense?  Our accountant is a Chartered Accountant, so I take what she says at face value, but I still question if this is the proper way, or if it simply the easy way, which doesn't give us the maximum dollar amount we can (legally) expense?

I have researched but any article I find is not clear, it refers to percentage only, and combine this with what my accountant does, I feel it must be the percentage formula we must use even for bed sheets, but no where has it specifically addressed my question in a way that makes it 100% clear.

[Sarah977]

@Katherine240  It seems to me that your accountant is wrong. The things you purchase solely for the rental unit should be direct deductions from your earnings for the hosting you do. Property tax, utilities, insurance and other such expenses are deducted on a % basis.

Either insist that your accountant research this further (and do some research yourself in Canadia tax law) or consult a different accountant.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Katherine240 

In the UK, things like sheets, towels, pots, pans etc that are bought only for use in the airbnb which you think should be able to expense at 100%, you can't. You can only expense those items when they have been used and are 'replaced'. Replacement costs are allowable.

So in that case, the attraction of an outside laundry contractor may be beneficial  where the cost for that service is directly identified, so those costs are then 100% allowed.

Deducting your personal use value from other items is a common procedure here too.

Whilst there's some similarity between our accounting systems the details are likely to be very different and your accountant should be able to advise you on the most beneficial way to arrange your accounting. They should be able to tell you too the reasons behind those decisions or direct you to a government resource that can.