12/16/2023
Rental Properties
If you own a residential rental property, you can deduct 100 percent of the costs you incur to clean the property. However, you don’t report the deduction directly on your 1040 form. Instead, you must include it on the Schedule E you prepare to report all rental income and other rental expenses. For example, if you rent out a beachfront home on a weekly basis to vacationers, it’s necessary to clean the home each week after tenants vacate and before new ones arrive. Since the expense directly relates to your rental property income, you can write off all costs you incur for cleaning each week.
General Business Expense
Regardless of the type of business you operate, if you rent office space, a factory, a warehouse or a storefront, cleaning is always an ordinary and necessary expense. Whenever you incur cleaning expenses in a business context, the cost is fully deductible. This remains true even if it doesn’t directly relate to the main operations of the business. For example, if you operate a clothing store but also rent office space in a different location for administrative employees, the cost of cleaning that office is deductible despite the fact that the office doesn’t generate profit for the business.