Is Airbnb a business or passive income?

Key Takeaways. Airbnb lets you generate passive income from your home or spare room. Being an Airbnb host involves listing your property on its platform, which handles bookings and communications with guests. Hosts are paid out based on guest stays.



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Like with any business, you'll have to pay taxes for your Airbnb business. Property taxes are a given, as is the case for everyone that owns real estate properties. You'll also be subject to sales taxes and even a local occupancy tax. The latter is often known as a hotel tax.

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Airbnb Inc (Airbnb) operates an online platform for hospitality services. The company provides a mobile application (app) that enables users to list, discover, and book unique accommodations across the world.

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Most of the time, rental income is considered passive because you're generating income from the money you invested versus working for it. There are some cases in which the rental income is automatically considered active income, such as when the rental property owner is a real estate professional.

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Most short-term rental owners or Airbnb taxpayers choose to use Schedule E. Schedule E is used to report “passive” income, an income where you receive money, but not work for or earn them.

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Your Airbnb business needs a separate bank account to collect rental fees and pay you from the business. Your local bank may offer business solutions, or you can check with our banking partners to find simple banking solutions that best fit your needs.

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Limited Liability Company or LLC The Limited Liability Company (LLC) is ideal for most Airbnb businesses. An LLC is easy and inexpensive to setup, and has the least administrative requirements of any formal business entity.

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Airbnb and other sites like them usually report to the IRS, so you'll be paying income taxes if you rent out your property for more than 14 days. However, tax deductions alleviate some of that burden because they reduce your tax liability. Your taxable Airbnb income will include your earnings, minus your deductions.

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Top 10 Ways to Start Making Money on Airbnb without Owning a Property
  1. Take the Airbnb Rental Arbitrage Route. ...
  2. Become a Short-term Rental Property Manager. ...
  3. Become a Co-host to an Airbnb host. ...
  4. Join a Vacation Rental Franchise. ...
  5. Become an Airbnb Consultant. ...
  6. Start an Airbnb Cleaning Service. ...
  7. Host an Airbnb Experience.


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Airbnb hosts earned more than triple all other workers, with nearly half earning more than $500 per month. The monthly average for hosts was $924, blowing away No. 2 TaskRabbit, whose users average $380. A full 10% of Airbnb hosts earn $2,000 or more per month.

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Six tips for recording your income and expenses
  1. Open a separate bank account. One of the first steps is to open a separate bank account that you'll use just for your Airbnb venture. ...
  2. Save your receipts. ...
  3. Enlist the services of an accountant. ...
  4. Use accounting or automation software.


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To ensure that Airbnb sends you a complete and correct year-end tax form for payouts, we need you to provide us with your taxpayer information.

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Here is what to include when writing your Airbnb business plan.
  1. Why are you starting your Airbnb business? What motivates you to start a vacation rental? ...
  2. Research the market. The research phase should not be skipped. ...
  3. Promotional strategies. ...
  4. Financials and pricing. ...
  5. Looking ahead.


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Setting up an LLC for an Airbnb business is a smart move for many reasons. An LLC provides personal liability protection, which can give business owners peace of mind knowing that their personal assets are generally protected in case of a lawsuit.

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To account for short-term rental income, the 14-day rule allows Airbnb hosts to avoid paying taxes if they rent a property for fewer than 14 days per year. The 14-day rule is a common provision in tax laws that aim to combat abuses of short-term rental services like Airbnb.

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