Rent-a-Room Tax Tracker, Renting a Room Income and Expense Spreadsheet, Basement Suite or ADU Schedule E Organizer, Google Sheets + Excel

Renting out a spare room, a basement suite or an ADU in the home you live in? The tax rules for that are not the same as for a normal rental, and most spreadsheets you will find were built for a normal rental.

This one was built for your situation. It splits your shared costs, handles the depreciation rule for a home you already owned, and applies the one limit almost every other room-rental sheet leaves out.

WHAT IT DOES

- Splits every shared cost between your home and the rented space, by square feet or by rooms, with an option to count shared space
- Builds a complete Schedule E, line 3 through line 21, with a note under every line saying where the number came from
- Applies the Section 280A limit when your personal use passes the 14 day and 10% line: deductions capped at rental income, worked in the right order, with the disallowed part carried forward
- Splits your Form 1098 between Schedule E and your own Schedule A share, and compares that with your standard deduction
- Depreciates the rented share of your home over 27.5 years from the lower of your adjusted basis or its value the day it became a rental
- Handles improvements and appliances: 27.5, 15 and 5 year property, bonus depreciation by acquisition date, the 2,500 dollar de minimis safe harbor, and the mid-quarter convention when it applies
- Tracks tenants, leases, deposits and a month-by-month grid of rent received, built from your income log
- Ends with a CPA checklist: 17 documents to gather and 15 automatic checks on what you entered

WHY THE SECTION 280A PART MATTERS

If your own use of the space you rent out passes the greater of 14 days or 10% of the days it was rented at a fair rental price, IRC Section 280A(c)(5) caps your rental deductions at your rental income. That rental cannot show a loss on Schedule E, and what is disallowed carries forward. It is not a passive loss and it does not go on Form 8582. Sharing a kitchen does not by itself trigger the limit, and a self-contained suite does not by itself avoid it: the day counts decide. You enter your personal-use days and your fair-rental days on Year-End Forms, and the whole summary follows them.

WHAT YOU GET

- Start-here PDF with one-click Google Sheets copy links
- Blank workbook, ready for your own home
- Filled-in sample year so you can see every tab working first
- Both as .xlsx for Microsoft Excel as well

INSIDE

Start Here, Setup, Tenants and Rent, Income Log (300 rows), Expense Log (500 rows), Improvements (25 items), Year-End Forms, Schedule E Summary, Explainers, CPA Checklist.

Up to 4 rented spaces, each with its own start date. One file carries several tax years: change the year on Setup and keep going. 2025 and 2026 IRS figures are already filled in.

THE EXPLAINERS TAB

Plain-language notes on the rules that catch room renters out: how to split shared costs, the Section 280A income limit, the 14-day exception, renting below market rent to family, security deposits versus advance rent, tenant-paid expenses, the conversion basis rule, what depreciation costs you when you sell, and the local rules, HOA, lease and insurance questions to settle before you rent a room at all.

IMPORTANT

This workbook organizes your records. It is not a tax return and it is not tax, legal, accounting or financial advice. Van to Vault is not a CPA, enrolled agent, attorney or tax preparer, and buying or using this file does not create a professional relationship. Every figure depends on what you enter, covers federal rules only (not state or local), and reflects the rules for tax years 2025 and 2026 as of September 2026. Tax law changes. Have a qualified tax professional review your numbers before you file. Renting part of your home may also be restricted by local ordinance, your HOA, your lease, your mortgage or your insurer, and those notes are general background rather than legal advice. Provided as is, without warranties of any kind.

Digital download. Nothing ships. For your personal use with your own home, please do not share, resell or redistribute the files.