Tax benefits of separating rental income from pet rent?

[Judy Murphy]

Hello everyone. 

I have 3 rentals, one in Anchorage Alaska, and two out of state.  With all three, I have Pet Rent. 

My property manager in Anchorage separates the pet rent from the general rental income on every statement and year end statement.  Personally, I like to see this separation.  It quickly shows what the property is renting for, and additional income from pets.  I think this may be beneficial as I acquire more properties.

Conversely, with my out of state properties, the property manager does not separate the income, but lumps it together in Rental Income.  I can see where this may get potentially misleading in the years ahead...ie..".it rented for $1350 last year, why is it not renting for this amount now???  Oh yea, they had pets...."

What are your thoughts on this?  Should I just get more organized with my properties, or let the property managers run with it?

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

Judy Murphy

Kenny Lake, Alaska

[Nicholas Aiola]

@Judy Murphy To address the title of your post, there are no tax benefits to separating regular rent and pet rent. Some PMs and bookkeepers do this for bookkeeping purposes to more easily show the split between the income streams (same goes for late fees, laundry income, parking income, etc.). Both will be grouped together and reported as rental income on the tax return.