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errolsnow(Newbie)Newbie
25 May 2026

Hello,


I have been renting my home (Only property I own, claiming PPOR via the 6 year rule) on airbnb for the past few months. I have had a company who work on behalf on insurance companies book my property for 8 weeks straight for a family who had a tree fall through their roof.


They have asked if they can book directly with me for future bookings rather than going through the airbnb platform. I am considering pivoting my strategy to partner with them directly rather than using the airbnb platform for a whole bunch of reasons (They book for longer periods at a time, longer bookings mean less cleaning and overhead compared to multiple shorter stays, less risk of property damage etc)


However in order for them to book directly with me they require me to have an ABN so I can provide proper invoices... so here are my questions:


  1. If I setup an ABN with the sole purpose of renting my home to this company for short term rentals (from 1 week up to 6 months) do I need to also register for GST? From what I have been able to find, renting of a residential property is considered "input-taxed", and under the GST rules it states "Your GST turnover is your total business income (not your profit), minus: input-taxed sales you make". So the way I am reading this is I don't need to collect any GST given the only business income is from the rental property which is exempt? (just FYI I will probably be generating over $75k of rental income per year)
  2. Would renting the property to a company via an ABN (as a sole trader?) impact things like my ability to negative gear or my CGT exemptions?
  3. If I have the property available for rent all year to this company, how do I prove that to the ATO if I am claiming negative gearing for all 365 days per year? (EG, there may be periods where the house is not being rented out by the company but it is available for them, currently the ATO can see that the property is available to rent via the airbnb platform even on days when its not booked).
  4. Are there any other things I need to consider before going down this path?

Thank you for any help... I have spent a number of hours researching and I even called the ATO (the guy wasn't very helpful and didn't understand the question).


Cheers

35 views
2 replies
35 views
2 replies

All replies

Taxduck(Taxicorn)Taxicorn
25 May 2026

Input taxed income is not part of GST turnover income so GST registration is pointless.

See below

Registering for GST | Australian Taxation Office

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that by providing an invoice with an ABN that this income is suddenly now business income. Ultimately nothing has changed, it is rental income and is reported as such on your tax return. (under rental income, not business income)


About taking the property off the booking platform (Airbnb), is the property then no longer genuinely available for rent? I would suggest that would be the case, if the company is booking on a needs basis only (and not renting all year)

Rental expenses | Australian Taxation Office

From link

"Expenses may be deductible for periods when the property isn't rented out, providing the property is genuinely available for rent – that is:

  • the property is advertised in ways which give it broad exposure to potential tenants"

PollyATO(Community Support)Community Support
27 May 2026

Hi @errolsnow,


@Taxduck is right. You don't need to register for GST just because you get an ABN. Renting a residential property is input-taxed, which means you don't charge GST on the rent.


When you work out your GST turnover, you don't count rental income from residential properties. This means your rental income won't push you over the $75,000 GST registration threshold. You only register for GST if your other business income hits that amount.


Getting an ABN to invoice this company won't change how you treat your rental income on your tax return. You'll still declare the rental income and can still claim deductions like negative gearing. Your CGT exemption under the 6 year rule isn't affected by having an ABN or invoicing a company directly.


For proving the property is available for rent all year, you'll need to keep good records. This can include:

  • a written agreement with the company showing the property is available
  • email correspondence about bookings
  • invoices you send
  • records of when the property was occupied and when it was vacant but available.

Keep all these records in case we need to check your claims. The key is showing the property was genuinely available for rent, not just that someone was living there.


Check out our guidance on residential rental properties and GST on our website. You can also use the GST property decision tool to confirm your specific situation.

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