Help! Did I need to claim rent money from friend staying on my couch?

This is actually a common situation! The good news is that when you're just sharing expenses with a roommate, the money they give you isn't considered taxable income. The IRS views this as a cost-sharing arrangement rather than a rental situation, especially since you aren't making a profit. The key factors working in your favor: you're both using the space as your primary residence, you're just dividing the actual costs, and you're not charging more than your actual expenses. This is different from being a landlord who owns property and rents it out for profit. If you were renting out a separate portion of your home that you didn't use (like a basement apartment) or if you were charging significantly more than your actual costs, then it would be different and you might need to report rental income.

I went through something similar with my brother crashing at my place and was totally confused about the tax situation. I ended up using https://taxr.ai to scan my rental agreement and get clarity on what I needed to report. Their system analyzed everything and explained exactly how the IRS views roommate cost-sharing versus actual rental income. Super helpful for figuring out these gray areas that regular tax software doesn't cover well.

Following up on my question about the taxr.ai thing - I actually tried it out and wow, it really cleared things up for me! I uploaded screenshots of my weekend rental earnings and my lease, and it showed me exactly what counts as rental income vs just expense sharing. Turns out I was overpaying on taxes because I was reporting some things I didn't need to! It even showed me which specific deductions I qualified for with my part-time rental situation. Definitely sorting this out properly for 2025's taxes.

If you're really concerned about getting this right, you should try calling the IRS directly to get an official answer. I know, I know - it sounds like torture. After trying for WEEKS to get through their phone lines last tax season (literally 2+ hour waits), I found https://claimyr.com which got me connected to an IRS agent in under 20 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - they basically navigate the phone tree and wait on hold for you, then call you when an actual human at the IRS is ready to talk. Saved me so much frustration when I had a similar question about money from a tenant.

Ok I owe everyone an apology. I was so skeptical about that Claimyr service that I almost didn't try it. But I was desperate after spending ANOTHER 90 minutes on hold with the IRS yesterday before getting disconnected again. Gave it a shot today and... I'm still in shock. They actually got me through to a real IRS person in about 15 minutes! The agent clarified my whole situation about claiming rental income vs just having someone contribute to expenses. Sometimes being proven wrong feels pretty damn good. Sorry for doubting!

I think it also matters if your friend has their mail delivered to your address or uses it as their official address on government documents. That could strengthen the argument that they're a resident sharing expenses rather than you being their landlord. Might be worth checking if they've updated their ID or voter registration to your address? This helped me when I had a similar situation with a cousin staying with me.

Honestly, the IRS has bigger fish to fry than someone splitting rent with a friend. As long as you're not making profit (charging more than your actual costs) or trying to claim rental loss deductions, they really don't care. I've had roommates for years who aren't on my lease and just Venmo me for their portion. Never reported it, never had an issue.

Just wanted to add some reassurance here - you're definitely not in trouble! The distinction between rental income and cost-sharing is pretty clear in tax law, and your situation sounds like textbook cost-sharing. Since she's living there as her primary residence and you're just splitting actual expenses (not making profit), this isn't considered rental income. The fact that she's paying $1100 toward your $2350+ total housing costs shows you're not profiting - you're actually still covering more than half yourself. This is exactly what the IRS expects to see in legitimate roommate arrangements. For future peace of mind, you might want to keep some basic records showing the split of expenses (like rent receipts and maybe a simple text/email trail of her payments), but you definitely don't need to file any landlord paperwork or claim this as income. You're just two people sharing living expenses, which is completely normal and not taxable.

I went through almost exactly the same situation last year! My friend stayed on my couch for about 6 months and contributed $900 toward my $2200 rent. I was so worried about the tax implications that I actually consulted with a tax professional, and they confirmed what others are saying here - this is definitely cost-sharing, not rental income. The key thing that put me at ease was learning that the IRS looks at whether you're making a profit and whether the person is living there as their primary residence. Since your friend is paying less than half your total housing costs and is using your couch as her main living situation, you're clearly just splitting expenses rather than running a rental business. I kept simple records (just screenshots of her Venmo payments and copies of my rent receipts) but never had to report anything as income. The fact that you're still covering the majority of the costs yourself makes it pretty clear this isn't a profit-making rental arrangement. You should be totally fine!