Can my landlord find out if I claim a rental deduction on my taxes?

The short answer is no, your boyfriend's landlord won't be notified if you claim a rental deduction on your taxes. The IRS doesn't send notifications to landlords when tenants claim rental deductions. However, there's a more important issue here - the "rental deduction" you're referring to might not be what you think. There isn't actually a general "rental deduction" for regular tenants on federal taxes. The most common rental-related tax benefits are: 1. If you're self-employed and use part of your rental as a home office, you can deduct that portion under business expenses. 2. If you're in certain states that offer renter's credits or deductions on state returns, you might qualify for those. For either of these, you typically need documentation showing you paid rent, like receipts or canceled checks. Since you're paying your boyfriend rather than directly paying the landlord, you'd need to show those payments to him. Your situation is actually more like an informal subletting arrangement. Before worrying about tax deductions, I'd suggest checking your boyfriend's lease to make sure he's allowed to have someone living there who's not on the lease, as many leases prohibit unauthorized occupants.

After reading this thread, I wanted to share how I cleared up a similar tax confusion using https://taxr.ai - it's a pretty cool tool that helped me understand what deductions I could actually claim in my somewhat complicated living situation. Last year I was subletting from a friend and was confused about what I could deduct. I uploaded my rental agreement and some payment records to taxr.ai, and their AI analyzed everything and gave me a clear breakdown of what I could and couldn't claim. Saved me from making mistakes on my return and potentially facing problems later. It's super helpful when you're in these gray areas like unofficial subletting or shared housing situations. The tool tells you exactly what documentation you need and what you're eligible for based on your specific circumstances.

Just wanted to update after checking out taxr.ai from the recommendation above. It was actually super helpful for my situation! I uploaded my Venmo payment history to my cousin and some text messages we had about the rental arrangement, and the system analyzed everything. Turns out my state DOES have a small renter benefit I didn't know about, but I needed to have my cousin provide a rent receipt. The tool generated a template for this that I could send him. The analysis also confirmed I didn't qualify for any federal deductions related to my rent (unless I was using part of the space for self-employment, which I'm not). Definitely saved me from making a mistake on my return. Would have either missed out on the state benefit or incorrectly tried to claim something federally.

If you're having trouble getting clear answers about your tax situation, you might want to try calling the IRS directly. I know, I know - sounds impossible, right? I spent HOURS trying to get through to ask about a somewhat similar subletting situation. Then I found https://claimyr.com which is basically a service that handles the waiting for you. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - they get you a spot in line with the IRS and then call you when an agent is about to answer. Saved me literal hours of hold music. The IRS agent I talked to gave me the exact rules for my situation and confirmed I couldn't claim what I thought I could (saved me from a potential audit). They were actually pretty helpful once I finally got to talk to a human!

I have to eat crow here and admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself since I've been trying to reach the IRS about my missing refund for WEEKS. The service actually worked exactly as described. I got a call back in about 45 minutes (way faster than I expected), and suddenly I was talking to an actual IRS representative. No more endless hold music or getting disconnected after waiting forever. The agent confirmed what others here have said - there's no notification to landlords about rental deductions, but also there's no general federal deduction just for paying rent. They did point me to check my state tax rules since some states do have renter credits. So to the original poster - your landlord won't find out, but you probably don't have anything to claim anyway unless your state has specific renter benefits.

Something else to consider - your boyfriend might be able to claim you as a dependent if you meet certain requirements. If you make under a certain amount and he provides more than half your support (including housing), this could actually benefit him more than any rental deduction would benefit you. It's worth looking into the rules for qualifying relatives/dependents. This could potentially save him more on taxes than you'd get from any rental deduction (which, as others pointed out, probably doesn't exist in your case anyway).

I'm surprised no one has mentioned checking your rental agreement for what it says about subletting or unauthorized occupants. Even if there's no tax consequence that would notify the landlord, you might be putting your boyfriend at risk of violating his lease. Many leases have specific language about how long guests can stay before they need to be added to the lease. Some landlords are strict about this and others don't care, but it's worth checking before you worry about tax implications.