Every one of these is an ordinary short-term-rental expense, and every one of them is easy to leave on the table because it never got written down. Each line below names the deduction and the expense category that captures it, so a year of receipts ends up somewhere Schedule E can actually use.
No form, no download gate, no email to read it. The whole checklist is on this page. Print it, or work down it on screen.
This is the same checklist that ships inside the Airbnb & STR Tax Bundle, published here in full. The category column is the one that matters: a deduction you record under the wrong heading is a deduction you get to untangle in April.
| # | Deduction | Log it under |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Platform service / host fees | Platform Commissions |
| 2 | Cleaning & turnover service | Cleaning & Maintenance |
| 3 | Cleaning supplies & restock (paper, soap, coffee) | Supplies & Restock |
| 4 | Linens, towels & replacements | Supplies & Restock |
| 5 | Furniture & décor (small: De Minimis / large: depreciate) | De Minimis Items / Depreciation |
| 6 | Small appliances & electronics | De Minimis Items / Depreciation |
| 7 | Wi-Fi & streaming subscriptions | Utilities |
| 8 | Utilities (electric, gas, water, trash) | Utilities |
| 9 | Property & liability insurance | Insurance |
| 10 | Mortgage interest (rental share) | Mortgage Interest |
| 11 | Property taxes (rental share) | Property Tax |
| 12 | HOA / condo fees | Other |
| 13 | Repairs & maintenance | Repairs |
| 14 | Pest control & landscaping | Cleaning & Maintenance |
| 15 | Smart locks / security / cameras | De Minimis Items / Depreciation |
| 16 | Dynamic pricing / PMS software | Other |
| 17 | Channel manager & booking tools | Other |
| 18 | Accounting / bookkeeping software | Other |
| 19 | Professional photography | Advertising |
| 20 | Guidebooks, welcome gifts, toiletries | Supplies & Restock |
| 21 | Business mileage (site visits, supply runs) | — use the Mileage tab |
| 22 | Home-office (if you self-manage & qualify) | Other — ask your tax pro |
| 23 | Legal & professional fees | Legal & Professional |
| 24 | Business license & STR permit fees | Other |
| 25 | Occupancy / lodging taxes you remitted | Occupancy Tax Remitted |
| 26 | Bank & merchant / processing fees | Other |
| 27 | Advertising & listing promotion | Advertising |
| 28 | Website & domain costs | Advertising |
| 29 | Phone (business-use % — never the first home line's base rate) | Utilities |
| 30 | Guest refunds & chargebacks | Other |
| 31 | Snow removal / seasonal services | Cleaning & Maintenance |
| 32 | Depreciation of the building | Depreciation |
| 33 | Depreciation of improvements | Depreciation |
| 34 | Startup costs (first year) | Other — ask your tax pro |
| 35 | Education & courses (hosting) | Other |
| 36 | Association / membership dues | Other |
| 37 | Travel to manage the property | Travel |
| 38 | Meals while managing or traveling (50%) | Meals 50% |
Read this before you file. Rental-share items (interest, taxes, utilities…) must be split if there's any personal use — the Personal Use tab computes the split. Depreciation items need Form 4562 / your tax pro. This is a memory aid, not advice.
A checklist can only remind you. The Airbnb & STR Tax Bundle is the 10-tab workbook the list came out of: you enter what you spent, it categorizes it, applies the correct split-year 2026 IRS mileage rate by trip date, reconciles your 1099-K, and fills a Schedule E summary from your own entries.
Get the bundle on Gumroad, $29
Instant download, yours to keep. Year-labeled for 2026 — registered owners get next year's edition free.
If that is you, we print one. The Airbnb Host Log Book is a 118-page, 8.5 × 11 paperback you keep at the property and write in as the year happens.
It does no arithmetic. What it does is get the number written down on the day, in the place, which is the part most hosts actually lose. A deduction you never recorded is not a deduction.
Paperback, sold and shipped by Amazon. The checklist above stays free either way.
The figures behind this checklist come from the IRS’s own instructions, and some of them move mid-year — the July 1, 2026 mileage revision is this year’s. Subscribe and you get one short note when that happens: what changed, and which line it touches. A few a year. The checklist above stays free and ungated either way.
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