Renting out a primary residence while traveling.

[Mitchell Markulis]

I have been a longtime observer of this site but have never needed input on my personal investments till now. I am looking for some input on my situation to see if I am missing any tax benefits ect.

Situation: Purchased a primary residence with my partner 3 years ago,just a single family home in a great city location, no hoa. My partner and I(under 30) are planning to live out of our van and travel around for a year. We don't anticipate much income aside from selling crafts and doing outdoor jobs, we have savings for the rest. We already have tenants signed for a one year lease, old coworkers whom should not be much hassle. I do however expect income from the property, expenses(mostly mortgage) is 1k and rent is 2k.

Questions:

-Normal rental income falls under 1040 but where i could use some advice is what can i consider deductible?

-My partner and I are not married but own the home 50/50, that would mean we split the total rental income in half? do we then both a file 1040.

-Say an issue arises at the rental and i need to travel a few states over for a repair? is that generally deductible. I would like to keep our income as low as possible to qualify for healthcare ect. Would doing repairs/renovations while tenants are in the house deductible if i do them myself?

If anyone has some advice on how to do things different im all ears.  Thx!

[Nicole Heasley Beitenman]

I'm not a CPA and haven't been an accountant for years, so check everything I'm saying with a professional.

Since you're renting the entire house, you claim all revenue and deduct all expenses. That includes any advertising costs. I believe it would also include costs to get the house ready to rent. You can deduct the cost of materials if you do repairs yourself, but I don't think you can pay yourself labor. You could deduct the travel costs to return to the property to make said repairs. These expenses will be filed on a Schedule E, and both you and your partner would claim 50%.