Q: Airbnb issued me a 2022 "Earnings Summary" — not a 1099 or another tax form — showing $4,200 for 23 nights. Am I required to declare this as income?

— P.H., email

A wise old sage once said, "All that glitters is not gold!" The Internal Revenue Service states, "All income must be told" … with some exceptions (e.g., interest on municipal bonds, state income tax refunds for non-itemizers). Another very nice exception that you do not qualify for is the 14-night "mulligan" that applies to rental of one's personal residence.

Put differently, if you rent your home for 14 days or less during the taxable year, you do not report the income generated. Your situation — 23 nights of income — will be reported on Schedule E. That's the law. And you will also be allowed deductions for out-of-pocket expenses such as supplies, advertising, hiring cleaning professionals or buying cleaning materials, maintenance, sales or innkeepers' taxes incurred on your rentals, and other costs tied to participating in an Airbnb operation or another comparable service such as VRBO or Rent Like a Champion.

Tax Talk:There are a few places that offer free income tax preparation services in Michiana area

Check out the Schedule E instructions for how to calculate floor space costs that provide a "write-off" for costs such as utilities, property insurance, real estate taxes and other expenses that "come with the territory" when you own a home. And, P.H., the 14-day rule does not mean you can ignore the first 14 days of rental income, which is a common misinterpretation. Note one potential negative of renting your home may come into play long-term.  Rental usage may affect your eligibility to exclude part of the gain on your residence when you sell the property.

Q: Currently, I am completing divorce proceedings. My husband did not live with me (or my 12-year-old child) during 2022. If we both file married filing separately (since the divorce has not been finalized), I will be ineligible for the Earned Income Credit. Any advice you can provide will be much appreciated.

— A.P., email

We are sorry to hear about your in-process divorce. Because your husband did not live with you and your child during 2022, you will be allowed to use the Head of Household filing status based on the so-called "Abandoned Spouse" criteria, which applies in your situation.

To qualify as HOH there are three key factors — the 3-M test — Marital status, Maintaining a household and Members of the household. The second and third M's, based on your description, are met. As for your Marital status, a person who is still married qualifies for the HOH category based on the fact that the other spouse did not live in the household for at least the last six months during the taxable year.

Market Basket:Overhaul at Uptown Kitchen touches everything inside the building and on the plate

As a HOH, a larger standard deduction applies and the Earned Income Credit is permitted assuming you meet the other EIC tests. Note: a later column will cover the EIC in more detail.

Your soon to be "ex" must use "Single" as his filing status in order to avoid confusion (at the IRS) because when a taxpayer uses the Married Filing Separately status, he/she must provide the Social Security Number of the other spouse. The "Single" status will not create any tax increase for your "ex" because the standard deduction and tax tables are the same for Single and HOH.

Ken & Klee's Tax Notebook — We indicated to you earlier that we would be watching for the IRS response regarding the taxability of the $200 and $125 Automatic Taxpayer Refunds made in 2022 to Hoosiers by the Indiana Department of Revenue. Pleased and happy to report that the IRS issued a ruling on Feb. 10. It stated that because the Indiana payments were considered in the nature of a "general welfare or a disaster relief payment" taxpayers would NOT report them as income on their 2022 tax return … regardless of whether they itemized their deductions during the previous year. The IRS ruling addressed the taxability of different types of pandemic payments for more than two dozen states.

Rick Klee served as the tax director at the University of Notre Dame from 1998 through August 2019. A retired CPA, Klee is a graduate of Notre Dame. You can contact him at rklee@nd.edu.

Ken Milani is a professor of accountancy at Notre Dame where he served as the faculty coordinator of the Notre Dame Tax Assistance Program. Contact him at milani.1@nd.edu.

E-mail questions to either.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Tax Talk: 'Earnings Summary' may need to be declared as income