What this Airbnb clears after the mortgage and the IRS
Most calculators stop at gross revenue. This one runs the property the way a Schedule E does: platform fee, management, operating costs, debt service, then interest and depreciation for the taxable line, then your bracket. You get cash flow, cash-on-cash return and the number that lands in your account.
Federal brackets are the 2026 rates from IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32. Depreciation is straight-line on the building only, year one, with no mid-month convention. Cleaning is treated as billed to guests and occupancy tax as remitted by the platform, so both are excluded.
Revenue
Your average across the year, not the peak week.
Booked nights divided by available nights. Most US markets land between 50% and 70% for a well-run unit.
Airbnb fee model
Share of the payout paid to a co-host or management company. Leave at 0 if you self-manage.
Purchase and loan
What you pay for the property.
Share of the price paid in cash. Investment loans commonly require 20% to 25%.
30-year fixed. The calculator amortizes it to split year-one interest from principal.
Lender fees, title, escrow. Often 2% to 4% of the price.
Furniture, linens, kitchen, smart lock, photos. Cash you put in before the first guest.
Operating costs
From the county assessor. It goes up after a sale in many states.
A short-term rental policy, not a homeowners policy.
Utilities, internet, HOA dues, supplies, software, maintenance reserve. Not cleaning, if guests pay for it.
Taxes
How you report it
Depreciation life
Land is not depreciable. The county assessment splits land and building; 20% is a common default, higher in cities.
Federal marginal bracket (2026)
0 in Texas, Florida, Nevada and six other states. Up to 13.3% in California.
An estimate for comparing deals, not tax advice. Passive loss rules, the 14-day rule, bonus depreciation and cost segregation are not modeled. Run the final numbers with a CPA.
After-tax cash flow, year one
$2,138.86
A tax loss on Schedule E is usually passive and offsets other income only if you qualify as a real estate professional or materially participate under the short-term rental rules. The calculator counts the tax as zero and does not credit the loss.
How it works
Three lines most calculators skip
Debt service is not an expense to the IRS
Your mortgage payment leaves your account in full, but only the interest is deductible. The principal is cash out with no tax effect, which is why cash flow and taxable income diverge.
Depreciation is a deduction you never paid for
The building loses value on paper over 27.5 years, or 39 if guests stay a few nights at a time. That deduction can turn a cash-positive year into a tax loss.
Schedule C costs you 15.3% more
Provide hotel-like services and the income moves to Schedule C with self-employment tax on top. Most hosts who only clean between stays report on Schedule E.
Where Airbnb profit calculators go wrong
They stop at gross revenue, or at best at revenue minus the cleaning fee. The mortgage, the property tax bill that resets after a sale, the insurance policy that costs three times a homeowners policy because it covers nightly guests, and the management company's 20 percent all live below that line. Then comes the IRS, which has its own view of what you earned.
That view is friendlier than hosts expect. The principal you repay is not deductible, but the interest is, and the building depreciates on paper whether or not it loses value. Take the defaults above: a $350,000 purchase with 20 percent down at 6.5 percent, 62 percent occupancy at $185 a night. The property grosses about $41,900, clears $23,400 after fees and operating costs, and keeps roughly $2,100 once the $21,200 of mortgage payments are out. On the tax side, $18,100 of interest and $10,200 of depreciation turn that into a loss of about $4,900 on paper. Whether that loss offsets your salary depends on the passive activity rules, which is a conversation for your CPA and the reason the calculator prints the taxable line separately.
The two toggles that change the answer most are the fee model and the schedule. Airbnb charges most US hosts 15.5 percent host-only; hosts on the split model pay 3 percent and the guest pays the rest, which lowers your fee but raises the guest's total. Schedule C applies when you provide substantial services, such as daily cleaning or meals, and it adds 15.3 percent self-employment tax on the profit. Schedule E, for most hosts, does not.
Questions
Airbnb profit, answered
How much profit does an Airbnb make?
What is a good cash-on-cash return for a short-term rental?
Schedule E or Schedule C for Airbnb income?
Is an Airbnb depreciated over 27.5 or 39 years?
Does the calculator include occupancy tax and cleaning fees?
Why is my taxable income lower than my cash flow?
Sources
- Airbnb Help Center, Service fees (article 1857): 15.5% host-only fee for most hosts, 3% host share on the split model. Read September 10, 2026.
- IRS Publication 527, Residential Rental Property: 27.5-year straight line. IRC § 168(e)(2)(A)(ii): a dwelling unit used on a transient basis is not residential rental property, hence 39 years.
- IRS Schedule SE: 15.3% on 92.35% of net self-employment earnings; one half deductible from income. Social Security wage base not modeled.
- IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (October 2025): 2026 federal brackets of 10, 12, 22, 24, 32, 35 and 37%. Standard deduction $16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly.
- Model assumptions: 365 available nights, 30-year fixed loan amortized for year-one interest, depreciation on the building share only, cleaning billed to guests, occupancy tax remitted by the platform, tax on positive income only and no credit for a loss.
Keep going
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