Tax strategy articles for short-term rental operators — the 7-day rule, bonus depreciation, cost segregation, material participation, and how to minimize your tax bill legally.
A CPA’s guide to what short-term rental operators can actually write off — platform fees, depreciation, mileage, the home-office rules, and how your tax classification determines what those deductions are worth.
If you purchased your STR without doing a cost segregation study, a Form 3115 look-back lets you claim all missed depreciation in the current year as a single catch-up deduction — without filing amended returns.
Exceeding 14 days of personal use converts your STR to a personal residence for tax purposes — eliminating your ability to deduct rental losses against W-2 income. Here’s how the rule works and how to stay under the threshold.
Material participation is the second gate in the STR loophole. A documented time log — maintained contemporaneously, not reconstructed at year-end — is what separates a defensible position from an audit loss.
The OBBBA permanently restored 100% bonus depreciation for qualified property acquired after January 19, 2025. Here’s what changed, what qualifies, and what the full math looks like for a $500,000 STR acquisition.
Most STR operators are filing Schedule C when they should be on Schedule E — and paying self-employment tax they don’t owe. The average rental period test and the SE tax question are governed by two completely different code sections.
The 7-day rule determines whether your STR income is passive or non-passive — and that single classification changes your entire tax picture. Here’s how to get it right.