Rents from Personal Property(p88)

If you rent out personal property, such as equipment or vehicles, how you report your income and expenses is generally determined by:

• Whether or not the rental activity is a business, and
• Whether or not the rental activity is conducted for profit.

Generally, if your primary purpose is income or profit and you are involved in the rental activity with continuity and regularity, your rental activity is a business. See Publication 535, Business Expenses, for details on deducting expenses for both business and not-for-profit activities.

If you are in the business of renting personal property, report your income and expenses on Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ (Form 1040). The form instructions have information on how to complete them.

If you are not in the business of renting personal property, report your rental income on Form 1040, line 21. List the type and amount of the income on the dotted line next to line 21.

If you rent personal property for profit, include your rental expenses in the total amount you enter on Form 1040, line 36. Also enter the amount and "PPR" on the dotted line next to line 36.

If you do not rent personal property for profit, your deductions are limited and you cannot report a loss to offset other income. See Activity not for profit, under Other Income, later.