Beginner Renter! Tax Things to know?

Question

Hello All,

I am very new to the real estate game and I have my first renter moving in in a few days! My question is what do I need to keep track of in order to be ready for tax time? Are there any tax breaks that I can utilize for having this renter? How do you personally keep track of your tenant data? Are there any beginner friendly real estate books specifically dealing with tax that I can look into reading? I am based in Nashville TN by the way.

Thanks! Looking forward to hearing back from you all.

Basit Siddiqi · Answer

There are two books I recommend on TaxNOLO's Real Estate book on Tax.Biggerpocket's Real Estate Book on TaxMy suggestions would be to create a new bank account just for your rental related activities. Income from your tenant should be deposited into this account. When you have expenses, they should also come from this account.You should also create a new online folder(Google drive, apple drive, dropbox) where you can save receipts / work orders).Getting in touch with a CPA will help you take advantage of the many tax laws that benefit real estate investors.Best of luck!

Jason Malabute · Answer

Congrats on your first renter and welcome to the real estate investing journey!

To stay organized for tax time, track all rental income and any property-related expenses like repairs, insurance, mortgage interest, utilities (if you cover them), and travel to and from the property. You don’t need to track depreciation yourself—your accountant or accounting software will handle that.

Tools like QuickBooks Online can help you stay on top of everything. And if you’re looking to learn more, check out beginner-friendly books like Tax Strategies for the Savvy Real Estate Investor.

Let me know if you’d like a basic tracking spreadsheet—happy to share one.

Aaron Zimmerman · Answer

@Ladarius Robinson - congrats on your first renter! Very exciting. I would take a look at schedule e on the 1040 for all the common expense items. I also have a standard spreadsheet template. Feel free to pm and I'd be happy to provide

Nathaniel Quesenberry · Answer

@Ladarius Robinson

Congrats on your first renter and getting into the real estate world!

Generally you want to keep track of your rent income received, your expenses and then you want to have your purchase agreement from when you bought the rental property to properly account for depreciation.

I have heard good things about Stessa as a software for tracking income/expenses, but you can get by with just an Excel Spreadsheet as well.

Ladarius Robinson · Answer

Hey Jason,

Yes I would like that spreadsheet if you dont mind! Anything would help. Thanks so much for the information!

Ladarius Robinson · Answer

Hey Nathaniel,

Thank you so much for the information! I appreciate you!

Beginner Renter! Tax Things to know?

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