Airbnb Cleaning Fees: How They're Taxed for Hosts

Published March 2026 · 7 min read

Cleaning fees charged to Airbnb guests are taxable income — they get included in your gross rental receipts right alongside the nightly rate. But if you pay someone (or a service) to clean your rental, those cleaning expenses are 100% deductible. For many hosts, cleaning fees and cleaning costs are close to a wash on the tax return. What's left over — if you charge more than you pay — is the taxable net. Understanding the mechanics helps you report correctly and claim every deduction you're owed.

Cleaning Fees Are Part of Gross Rental Income

When a guest books your Airbnb, they might pay a $150 nightly rate plus a $75 cleaning fee. From the IRS's perspective, both payments are rental income. There's no special exemption for cleaning fees — they're simply part of what guests paid to rent your property.

This is confirmed by the way the 1099-K works: the gross amount Airbnb reports to the IRS includes everything guests paid, cleaning fee included. Your transaction history on Airbnb shows the individual components, but for tax reporting, the total flows in as income.

Deducting Cleaning Costs

Hiring a Professional Cleaner or Cleaning Service

If you hire an individual or a cleaning company to clean your rental between guest stays, the amount you pay is a fully deductible rental expense. This includes:

• Per-stay cleaning fees paid to a contracted cleaner
• Regular cleaning service contracts
• One-time deep cleans before or after a season
• Cleaning fees charged to you by a property manager who handles turnover

Keep records of all payments: receipts, invoices, or bank transfer records. If you pay an individual cleaner $600 or more during the year, you'll also have a 1099-NEC filing obligation (more on that below).

Doing the Cleaning Yourself

Here's the hard truth: you cannot deduct the value of your own time. The IRS does not allow self-employed individuals to deduct their own labor. If you clean your Airbnb yourself, you cannot estimate an hourly rate and write it off.

However, you can and should deduct everything you spend out-of-pocket to clean:

• Cleaning products (multi-surface cleaners, disinfectants, glass cleaner)
• Paper towels, disposable wipes, trash bags
• Mops, brooms, vacuum cleaner bags or filters
• Laundry detergent for linens and towels
• Protective gloves, cleaning cloths

These supply costs are 100% deductible. Keep your receipts or use a dedicated card so the purchases are traceable.

The 1099-NEC Issue: Paying Individual Cleaners

If you pay the same individual cleaner $600 or more during a calendar year, you are legally required to issue them a Form 1099-NEC (Non-Employee Compensation) by January 31 of the following year. This rule applies to individuals, sole proprietors, and partnerships — not to corporations.

To issue a 1099-NEC, you need the cleaner's legal name, address, and Social Security Number or EIN. Collect this information upfront using IRS Form W-9 before you start paying them. Trying to collect it in January when taxes are due is stressful and sometimes impossible.

Cleaning Fees and Occupancy Taxes

In many jurisdictions, cleaning fees are also subject to lodging or occupancy taxes — the local taxes that apply to short-term rentals. Whether your cleaning fee is taxable for occupancy tax purposes depends on your specific city or county. In some jurisdictions, only the base nightly rate is subject to occupancy tax; in others, all fees including cleaning fees are taxable.

Airbnb handles occupancy tax collection and remittance in many jurisdictions automatically. But in areas where Airbnb doesn't collect, you are responsible. Check with your local tax authority about whether cleaning fees are included in their taxable base. This is separate from federal income tax — it's a local issue.

Cleaning Costs for Mixed-Use Properties

If you rent part of your home on Airbnb (a spare room, for example) and also live in the home yourself, cleaning costs need to be prorated. You can deduct the cleaning costs attributable to the rental portions of your home, not the entire home.

If you hire a cleaner who cleans the whole house including your personal areas, allocate the cost by square footage (or by how much time they spend on the rental vs. personal areas) and deduct only the rental portion. Keep a note in your records documenting your allocation method.

Cleaning Fees on Schedule E

On Schedule E, cleaning-related expenses are typically listed under "Cleaning and Maintenance" or "Other Expenses" depending on the nature. Professional cleaning services and supplies both belong in the operating expense section. There's no special line for cleaning fees on the schedule — they're part of your total rental operating expenses that offset your gross rental income.

The resulting net income (gross rents minus all expenses including cleaning) is what you're actually taxed on. For a well-run Airbnb, the net is typically 40–70% of gross income after all deductions. Understanding each category — cleaning, supplies, utilities, depreciation — helps you see where your biggest deduction opportunities are.

For a complete list of what Airbnb hosts can deduct, see our guide on Airbnb tax deductions. For help calculating your actual tax bill, use the AirTaxCalc calculator.

Sources: Internal Revenue Service · U.S. Small Business Administration · U.S. Department of the Treasury.