Every one of these is an ordinary rental expense, and every one of them is easy to leave on the table because it never got written down. Most apply to any rental you own, whether you let it by the year or by the night; the short-stay ones are grouped on their own below. Each line names the deduction and the expense category that captures it, so a year of receipts ends up somewhere Schedule E can actually use.
Two pages, landlord edition, with the 2026 split mileage rate and its IRS source. Straight download, no email.
No form, no download gate, no email to read it. The whole checklist is on this page. Print it and tick it, or work down it on screen.
This is the same thinking that runs through the Rental Property Record Book, 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Any rental you own · whether you let it by the year or by the night | ||
| 1 | Mortgage interest (rental share) | 12 · Mortgage interest |
| 2 | Other interest (private or seller-financed loans, no Form 1098) | 13 · Other interest |
| 3 | Property taxes (rental share) | 16 · Taxes |
| 4 | Property & liability insurance | 9 · Insurance |
| 5 | Depreciation of the building | 18 · Depreciation |
| 6 | Depreciation of improvements | 18 · Depreciation |
| 7 | Repairs & maintenance | 14 · Repairs |
| 8 | Property management & leasing fees | 11 · Management fees |
| 9 | Utilities (electric, gas, water, trash) | 17 · Utilities |
| 10 | HOA / condo fees | 19 · Other |
| 11 | Pest control & landscaping | 7 · Cleaning & maintenance |
| 12 | Snow removal / seasonal services | 7 · Cleaning & maintenance |
| 13 | Legal & professional fees | 10 · Legal & professional |
| 14 | Accounting / bookkeeping software | 19 · Other |
| 15 | Business mileage (site visits, supply runs) | 6 · Auto & travel |
| 16 | Travel to manage the property | 6 · Auto & travel |
| 17 | Advertising, listing promotion & website costs | 5 · Advertising |
| 18 | Professional photography | 5 · Advertising |
| 19 | Business license & rental permit fees | 16 · Taxes |
| 20 | Bank & merchant / processing fees | 19 · Other |
| 21 | Phone (business-use % — never the first home line's base rate) | 17 · Utilities |
| 22 | Association / membership dues | 19 · Other |
| 23 | Education & courses (rental business) | 19 · Other |
| 24 | Smart locks / security / cameras | 15 · Supplies, or 18 if it lasts |
| 25 | Furniture & décor (small: De Minimis / large: depreciate) | 15 · Supplies, or 18 if it lasts |
| 26 | Small appliances & electronics | 15 · Supplies, or 18 if it lasts |
| Short-stay lets only · skip these nine if your tenant has a lease | ||
| 27 | Platform service / host fees | 8 · Commissions |
| 28 | Cleaning & turnover service | 7 · Cleaning & maintenance |
| 29 | Cleaning supplies & restock (paper, soap, coffee) | 15 · Supplies |
| 30 | Linens, towels & replacements | 15 · Supplies |
| 31 | Wi-Fi & streaming the guest uses | 17 · Utilities |
| 32 | Booking & pricing software (channel manager, PMS) | 19 · Other |
| 33 | Guidebooks, welcome gifts, toiletries | 15 · Supplies |
| 34 | Occupancy / lodging taxes you remitted | 16 · Taxes |
| 35 | Guest refunds & chargebacks | 3 · Rents received — reduces gross |
Read this before you file. Rental-share items (interest, taxes, utilities…) must be split if there's any personal use, and you record your own split — nothing here computes it for you. Depreciation items need Form 4562 and a look from your preparer. Line numbers follow the 2025 IRS Instructions for Schedule E (Form 1040); line 4 is royalties and does not apply to rentals. This is a memory aid, not advice.
Before you total your miles
Line 6 is the deduction owners most often get wrong this year. The IRS raised the business standard mileage rate part way through 2026, so the two halves of the year are deducted at different rates and have to be totaled separately.
The standard rate and actual vehicle costs are alternatives. You may claim one or the other, not both. Whichever you use, the deduction needs your odometer readings as well as the rate.
This list can only prompt your memory in April. The Rental Property Record Book is the 108-page, 8.5 × 11 record book the list came out of: a structured place to write each number down when it happens, arranged in the order Schedule E reads, with a plain-English map pairing every expense to its exact IRS line.
Buy the paperback, $16.99 Or the printable PDF, $8.99
The paperback is printed and bound, on Amazon. The printable is the same 108 record pages as an instant download you print yourself. This checklist stays free and ungated either way.
The record book does no arithmetic, and that is deliberate. What it does is get the number written down on the day, in the place — which is the part most owners actually lose.
No app, no login, no subscription. You keep it where the work happens and write in it, and at the end of the year the last page is an Annual Schedule E Summary you copy straight onto the return.
108 pages, 8.5 × 11. 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. When one moves, a short note goes up saying what changed and which line it touches. A few a year, posted in the open. The checklist above stays free and ungated either way.
Optional, and it changes nothing about what gets posted. Every note goes up openly at deedwell.co/updates, no email required and nothing you have to subscribe to, and the checklist above stays free either way. The signup is hosted by Gumroad rather than sitting on this page, so we never put a form in front of you.