How I Filed TV Show Filming Rental Income with TurboTax

In 2016 and 2017, we rented our home to a friend’s production company for the filming of a television show. This extra income was reported to the IRS by the production company, so I figured I should account for it when I filed our taxes, but I had no idea how. It took some research to learn what should be declared and how to actually do it in TurboTax. I did this in 2016 successfully, and filed the same way for my 2017 taxes, so I thought I’d document here.

Note: this isn’t tax advice! Well, obviously, it kinda is. But I am not a tax professional. I’m just sharing what worked for me to help out anyone Googling for the topic. This content won’t be of much interest for my usual blog readers – to make up for it, I’ll end the post with some behind-the-scenes TV show info.

Non-taxable Income and the 14 Day Rule

Most importantly: this is the process for filing taxes for income from a rental for fewer than 15 days. The 14-day rental rule exempts you from owing taxes on short-term rentals of your home.

IRS Publication 527 states: “If you rent property that you also use as your home and you rent it less than 15 days during the tax year, don’t include the rent you receive in your income…”  (This is supposedly sometimes called the “Masters Provision” because so many homeowners rent out their properties in Georgia for the Masters Golf Tournament.)

The tax professional I spoke to said – since the production company reported the money to the IRS – “if you do not put this information on your tax return there is a 100% chance that you will get a notice from the IRS.”

What the 1099-MISC Tax Form Looks Like

If you rent your home for a television show or a movie, you’ll probably receive a 1099-MISC tax form for Miscellaneous Income. It looks like this:

The amount you were paid for the rental of your property should be in Box 1: Rents. The first form I received had my rental income in Box 7: Nonemployee compensation, which was a mistake. The tax pro I spoke to pointed this out and I was able to get a corrected form from the production company’s accounting firm.

How to File with TurboTax

Last year, I spoke with a TurboTax support representative who advised me on the following steps. I took screenshots this year so I could illustrate the process.

1. Go to the Income section of TurboTax

2. Go to Less Common Income, and select Miscellaneous Income

3. Under Miscellaneous Income, select Other reportable income

4. On the Other Taxable Income screen, enter a Description. Based on my conversations with TurboTax and a tax professional, I chose to enter: 14 day rent rule – Production Company Name 47-1234567. (I used the real production company name and federal income number (TIN), as found on the 1099 – I’m just not using it here!)

I file taxes jointly with my husband, so both of our names were listed. The check was made out to me, so I entered the income next to my name. Use the amount found in Box 1: Rents of the 1099-MISC form. (Again: the screenshot is a fictitious amount.)

5. Then, click Add Another Income Item. Use the same Description as before, but this time use the negative version of your rental amount: e.g. –1,000. Doing this shows TurboTax/the IRS that you reported the income but that the income is not taxable.

After you complete this step, you should notice that your estimated refund/money owed calculation in TurboTax was not impacted by the miscellaneous income entry.

When you file your taxes and download your official Form 1040 Individual Income Tax Return document from TurboTax, you’ll see a note in Line 21 that states See Line 21 Statement.

At the end of your federal return document, TurboTax will have added a supporting schedule for Line 21 – Other Income.

That’s it! Our taxes are otherwise pretty straight-forward, and this was an easy addition. If this info helps out one person, I’ll be happy.

Our House on Easy

As I mentioned in a previous post – Let’s All Watch Easy on Netflix – our house was used for a few episodes of the Netflix show Easy. Here are some screengrabs!

That’s the kitchen I’m currently working on (see Kitchen Decision Making). I wonder what color range Aya Cash would prefer…

My friend Jenni drew those plants on the wall. She also makes beautiful collages and hilarious dog zines. The show’s production designer framed and hung the drawings and they’ve stayed up ever since. Filmmakers have to get permission to use any art that appears on screen, so several of my friends and artists I’ve purchased from signed release forms for the show.

I love how sunny our living room looks here. But I feel bad Aya had to sit on our disgusting sofa for not one but two seasons of this show. I’m pretty sure they covered it with a blanket to conceal all the cat claw damage. We’ve since had it reupholstered.

Here, Evan Jonigkeit is saying “Can you believe how awesome this Danish corner cabinet is?!” And Aya replies “I know! Shark Gravy has such great stuff!” j/k, j/k. You can see my wall-mounted bottle opener there between them, and a glimpse of our entryway. Here’s a better look at the cabinet:

This vintage cabinet was my first major furniture purchase for our new house, and it’s by far my favorite. Tonight I noticed another vintage corner cabinet on a different Netflix show: Princess Margaret’s rad new pad in The Crown. I like mine better!

That’s all for now. Good luck filing your taxes, whether or not they include filming rental income!