Short-term rental hosting has new federal and provincial compliance requirements. ScanForTax tracks proportional deductions, cleaning costs, and platform fees — keeping you audit-ready.
Real scenarios where ScanForTax saves you time and money at tax time.
Your cleaner invoices $150 per turnover, averaging $600/month. ScanForTax categorizes each payment under management and admin fees, tracking your cleaning costs annually.
Airbnb takes a 3% host service fee on every booking. ScanForTax imports your annual summary and categorizes the total fees under management and admin expenses.
A $200 order of guest towels and sheets from Costco. These are deductible supplies for the rental property. Scan the receipt and ScanForTax handles the categorization.
The T2125 line items most relevant to your work — ScanForTax maps these automatically from every receipt you scan.
| Line # | Category |
|---|---|
| 8871 | Management & Admin Fees |
| 8960 | Repairs & Maintenance |
| 8811 | Office Stationery & Supplies |
| 8690 | Insurance |
| 9220 | Telephone & Utilities |
If you rent part of your primary residence, deductions must be proportional — based on square footage or rooms used, multiplied by the percentage of time the space is rented. A spare room rented 60% of the year in a 4-room home = 15% deduction on household expenses like insurance and utilities.
CRA Rental Income Guide T4036The federal government introduced new compliance requirements for short-term rental hosts, including restrictions on income tax deductions for non-compliant listings in provinces with STR regulations. Ensure your listing complies with local bylaws.
Rentals of less than 30 continuous days are subject to GST/HST (not exempt like long-term residential rent). Once you exceed $30,000 in short-term rental revenue, you must register and charge tax.
GST/HST Info Sheet GI-025Airbnb and VRBO now report host earnings to the CRA. Ensure your reported income matches what the platforms report. Discrepancies trigger automatic CRA inquiries. Real estate agents who host STRs should be especially diligent.
See how ScanForTax processes a typical short-term rental host purchase.
Home Depot
2025-08-05
Ontario
Painting and repairs to maintain the rental property are deductible on Line 8960 (Repairs & Maintenance). If the property is also your primary residence, deductions must be proportional — based on the rental area and rental days. The $17.41 HST is recoverable (proportional to business use) if you are GST/HST registered.
Don't miss these steps before filing your T2125.
Download annual earnings summary from Airbnb/VRBO
Platforms now report to CRA — ensure your T2125 income matches.
Calculate proportional deduction percentage
Rental area ÷ total area × rental days ÷ 365 = your deduction percentage for shared expenses.
Compile cleaning and turnover costs
Professional cleaning between guests is deductible. Keep invoices for each service.
Review local STR bylaw compliance
New federal rules deny deductions for non-compliant listings. Verify your listing meets local bylaws.
Total up repair and maintenance expenses
Repairs that maintain the property are deductible. Capital improvements that add value must be depreciated through CCA.
Assess GST/HST registration requirement
If your short-term rental revenue exceeds $30,000 in four consecutive quarters, you must register.
ScanForTax handles most of this automatically
Scan receipts year-round and your categories, taxes, and ITC totals are ready when you need them — no year-end scramble.
See province-specific tax rates and recovery rules for short-term rental host expenses.
Start scanning now — your first 15 scans are free, no credit card required.
$250,000+ in receipts already processed by Canadian businesses
