Tax basics for hosts

Lessons

1. 1

   Schedule C vs. Schedule E — which is your hosting income?

   12 min

   The IRS distinguishes between rental income (Schedule E) and self-employment income from a trade or business (Schedule C). RV rentals are a gray zone. The general rule: if you provide "substantial services" — handoff walkthroughs, cleaning, maintenance, the active hosting work — the IRS typically classifies the income as Schedule C, which means self-employment tax applies (15.3%) but you can deduct the full set of business expenses.

   If you do not provide substantial services — for example, you list the rig with a third-party agency that handles everything — Schedule E may apply, which means no self-employment tax but a more restrictive deduction set.

   Most PickRV hosts run Schedule C because the handoff and cleaning are personal work. A few hosts who operate through a turn-key RV management agency may run Schedule E. The classification matters because Schedule C income is reported on the same 1040 as your W-2 wages and the self-employment tax is a separate 15.3% on top of regular income tax. The math is consequential. Get it right early.

2. 2

   Depreciation basics

   11 min

   Your RV is a depreciable asset. The IRS allows you to deduct a portion of its cost each year over its useful life. For RVs used in a rental business, the useful life under MACRS (Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System) is typically 5 years for most rigs, with the option to take bonus depreciation or Section 179 in the first year for qualifying property.

   Practical example: a $90,000 Class C placed in service for rental use in January 2026. Under MACRS 5-year, the first-year depreciation is roughly $18,000 (200% declining balance, half-year convention). Section 179 in 2026 allows you to expense up to $1,160,000 of qualifying business property in the year placed in service, subject to a phase-out — for a $90,000 rig, that's the entire cost in year one if you elect it.

   Section 179 is tempting because it reduces year-one tax dramatically. The trade-off: when you eventually sell or stop using the rig for rental, you face depreciation recapture (the depreciation you took is added back as ordinary income on the sale). The math is favorable for most hosts; it is less favorable if you plan to sell the rig within three years.

3. 3

   What is deductible

   11 min

   The deductible expenses for a hosting business in roughly decreasing magnitude: vehicle depreciation (largest), commercial insurance premium, financing interest on the rig, storage rental, repairs and maintenance, fuel (only for hosting-related travel, not personal use), supplies (cleaning, bedding, propane), photography and marketing, business mileage on your personal car (driving to and from handoffs), a portion of your phone bill, professional fees (this course's tax accountant), and the home-office deduction if you have a dedicated space for hosting work.

   What is not deductible: personal use of the rig (any personal trip mixed with rental use is pro-rated; the IRS rule is that the rental portion is deductible and the personal portion is not), entertainment (taking a renter out for a meal is no longer deductible after the 2017 TCJA), most clothing.

   The single most important practice is bookkeeping. Use a separate bank account and credit card for the hosting business from day one. Run all hosting income and expenses through it. The cost of separating the books is one hour a month with QuickBooks Self-Employed; the cost of mixing them is a tax-time audit risk and a bad-faith deduction claim that can attract IRS attention.

4. 4

   When to call an accountant

   11 min

   TurboTax Self-Employed is sufficient for a single-rig host clearing under $40,000/year in gross hosting revenue with simple operations and no multi-state filings. It costs roughly $150 and produces a defensible return.

   A real CPA is worth it above $40,000/year, or if you operate in more than one state (state-tax nexus rules), or if you are taking Section 179 / bonus depreciation, or if you have multi-member LLC questions, or if you have employees on W-2 payroll. A CPA's fee for a small-fleet host is typically $1,200–$3,000/year and frequently pays for itself in the first deduction the software missed.

   PickRV is not a tax advisor and this course is not tax advice. The point is to know the threshold above which you should stop reading the internet.

End-of-course quiz

5 questions. Answer honestly. The questions exist to be useful at handoff or pickup — not to be a vanity score.