Example
Rick rents out 3 rooms of his 12-room house. He is not sure how to split the expenses when he reports his rental income. Rick’s expenses were property taxes, electricity,
insurance, and the cost of advertising for tenants in the local newspaper. Rick can claim the part of his expenses that relates to the part of the property he rented in the current tax year. Since Rick rented 25% of his residence (3 out of 12 rooms), he can deduct 25% of his property taxes, electricity, and insurance costs from his rental income. He can deduct the full amount of the advertising expense, since this expense relates only to the rented part.
When he completes Form T776, Rick enters the full amount of each expense in the “Total expense” column. Then, in the “Personal portion” column, he shows the part of each
expense that relates to his personal use. In this case, he enters 75% of the property taxes, electricity, and insurance costs for the property.