Personal-Use Days Log Template for STR Owners (§280A)

Under §280A(d)(2), a day counts as personal use if the property was used as a residence by the owner, a family member (§267(c)(4): spouse, siblings including half-blood, ancestors such as parents and grandparents, and lineal descendants such as children and grandchildren), someone renting at below fair-market rent, or under a reciprocal-use arrangement. Two important exclusions: (a) owner-days spent substantially full time on repair or maintenance are excluded under the flush language following §280A(d)(2)(C), as implemented in IRS Publication 527; (b) property showings to prospective renters are not "personal purposes" under §280A(d)(1) in the first place. The template's category dropdown categorizes each day accordingly so the count reflects only the days that actually matter for the §280A(d)(1) threshold. Not tax advice; consult a qualified tax professional.

No, under the flush language following §280A(d)(2)(C) and IRS Publication 527, an owner-day spent substantially full time on repair or maintenance is not treated as personal use, even if a family member accompanies. "Substantially full time" is the doctrinal test: the day has to be spent on repair or maintenance in a work-day sense, not a bare-majority-of-the-day sense. IRS Publication 527 illustrates this by contrasting a taxpayer who works 8-hour days on repairs (excluded from personal use) with one who spends 3 to 4 hours on repairs while the rest of the time is spent fishing, hiking, and relaxing (still personal use). In the template, pick "Repair or maintenance day" from the Category dropdown; the Counts column returns "No (repair-day exception, flush language following §280A(d)(2)(C))" and the day is excluded from the personal-use count. Keep evidence of the work (photos, receipts, contractor invoices, hours logged) in case the categorization is questioned. Not tax advice; consult a qualified tax professional about how the "substantially full time" test applies to your specific day-mix.

Property-showing days are not "personal purposes" under §280A(d)(1) in the first place, so they are outside the personal-use definition entirely. The template categorizes these as "Property showing" and the Counts column returns "No (not personal purposes under §280A(d)(1))". This is a different doctrinal route than the repair-day exclusion: repair days are personal-use days that get carved out under §280A(d)(2)(C); showing days are simply not personal-use days to begin with. Both end up excluded from the count, but the reg trace matters if the categorization is examined. Not tax advice; consult a qualified tax professional.

Under §280A(d)(1), a dwelling unit is treated as a residence for tax purposes if personal-use days exceed the greater of 14 days or 10% of the number of days the unit was rented at fair rental value. The threshold is strict inequality; at exactly the ceiling the unit is not yet reclassified, but one more day triggers it. The formula runs per property, per tax year. For a property rented 150 days at fair rental value, the ceiling is MAX(14, 150 * 0.10) = 15 days of personal use. Cross the ceiling and the property is reclassified as a residence; deductions are then capped by §280A(c)(5) to rental income (any excess suspends and carries forward). The template's Summary tab computes the ceiling per property based on the rental-days number you enter and returns a status pill (Below ceiling / Approaching ceiling / At ceiling (one more day triggers reclassification) / Over §280A(d)(1) ceiling (reclassified as residence) / No data). Not tax advice; consult a qualified tax professional on the classification consequences for your specific facts.

The property is reclassified as a residence for that tax year. Deductions attributable to the rental use are then limited by §280A(c)(5): they can be taken only up to the amount of rental income for the year, with any excess disallowed for the current year and carried forward to future years (where they can be taken again subject to the same income limitation). This is different from §469 passive-loss suspension: §469 losses release on a qualifying disposition or against future passive income; §280A(c)(5) excess carries forward only against future §280A rental income from the same property. Note that §280A(e) allocation of expenses between rental and personal use applies whenever there is any personal use, not only after reclassification; reclassification adds the §280A(c)(5) income cap on top of that year-round allocation. Not tax advice; consult a qualified tax professional on the return-preparation and multi-year consequences.

They cover the two day-count axes of the STR loophole: this template tracks §280A(d) personal-use days against the 14-day-or-10%-of-rental-days ceiling; the guest-stay tracker at /airbnb-guest-stay-tracker-template/ tracks the §1.469-1T(e)(3)(ii)(A) 7-day-average-stay rule, computed per §1.469-1T(e)(3)(iii)(A), from booking data. There is overlap: the guest-stay tracker includes a lightweight Personal Use tab that uses the same 4-category dropdown and status logic. This standalone version adds a dedicated tax-year picker, an occupant/person column for each row, a Summary tab that is scoped entirely to §280A, and a full §280A category reference tab. Hosts who already use the guest-stay tracker and log only a handful of personal-use days per year can keep using its built-in tab; hosts with more personal-use activity, multi-owner households, or a preference for one focused sheet per axis benefit from the standalone template. Losing either day-count record can undo the strategy: a property that clears the 7-day rule still gets reclassified as a residence under §280A(d)(1) if personal-use days exceed the ceiling; a property that stays under the personal-use ceiling still fails the §469 exception if the average stay exceeds 7 days. Not tax advice; the two-axis discipline is a general framework, not personalized planning.