You need to understand your tax obligations when you rent out all or part of your residential house or unit through a digital platform. This includes renting out:
- part (one or more rooms) or all of your home (your main residence) – whether or not you were living in the home at the time, or at other times during the year
- any other property you own – see Owning and renting a property or holiday home.
You need to keep records:
- of all income earned and declare it in your income tax return
- of expenses you claim as deductions
- for the purchase, sale and holding costs and declare any capital gain or loss (capital gains tax (CGT)) in your income tax return when you sell the property.
If you provide services (for example, breakfast or cleaning) in addition to providing a room, it doesn’t mean that you are providing ‘board’ – or anything else other than renting out your space.
It is rare for someone to be carrying on a business because they are renting out a property. For more information, see Using your home to produce income.
You can visit the ATO Publication Ordering Service to download a copy of the Renting out a room or part of your main residenceExternal Link fact sheet.
GST
You don't need to pay GST on amounts of residential rent you earn.
You only need to consider GST if you carry on an enterprise renting out commercial residential premises, such as a commercial boarding house.