Declare your income
You need to include all income earned from renting your property through a digital platform in your tax return, including:
- all income before fees and commissions (including any host or cleaning fees) are deducted
- insurance payouts – for example, compensation for damage caused by renting
- bonds or security deposits you become entitled to retain
- letting and booking fees you charge, including cancellation fees.
Make sure to include the platform name as the description for the income.
Be aware that we receive data from digital platforms operating in Australia to identify people who earn income through the sharing economy. We do this to help people who earn sharing economy income understand and meet their tax obligations.
For more information, see Rental income you must declare and Sharing Economy Reporting Regime (SERR).
Deductions you may be able to claim
Common expenses you may be able to claim all, or part of (portion), as a deduction include:
- council rates
- interest on a loan for the property
- electricity, gas and water
- property insurance
- cleaning and maintenance costs (products used or hiring a commercial cleaner)
- fees or commission charged by the platform.
You can also claim a deduction for all, or a part of, any other expense that directly relates to earning your rental income, including repairs to fix damage caused by a paying guest.
It's important to keep good records, because how much (the portion) of the expense you can claim depends on:
- the number of days you rent out the house or property during the year (time-based method)
- the portion of the property you have rented out (for example, a room plus 50% of common areas or the whole property) (area-based method).
In some circumstances, for example where you rent out a bedroom in your home for part of the income year, you must use both methods for apportioning your expenses.
You can claim 100% of any expenses that only relate to renting out your home to paying guests (such as fees or commission charged by the platform).
Find out more about rental expenses and Renting out part of your house on a regular basis.