OpenThe Estimator is live — the books are in build
The biggest legal deduction
your rental can produce.
Books from your bank. Hours with evidence, logged as they happen. A year that ends in a binder — defensible when someone asks.
Books from your bankHours as they happenA binder at year end
The product
One thread of proof,
from bank feed to binder.
Airbnb payouts
matched to the 1099-K
$60,000
Operating expenses
categorized to Schedule E
−$40,000
- on file
Cleaner
watched for the 1099-NEC line
Built from your bank.
Payouts reconcile to the 1099-K, fees split to their lines, and the books stay tax-shaped all year.
Guest turnover
Tue 7:41 pm · 4 photos
2:10
Repair visit
Sat 9:05 am · voice memo
1:35
Countable this year
130 h
Logged as they happen.
Every entry is timestamped in the moment, with the photo or the memo that proves it.
The finding
$230,000
deductible loss, every gate cleared
- 03 · The hours logp. 4
- 08 · The loss trailp. 16
One document to hand over.
Ten sections — every number, the rule behind it, the proof under it.
The field
Every other tool keeps
half of the record.
The hours apps
A log with nothing under it.
Timers and voice notes do the capture well — then April arrives and the hours have no books to land in.
The bookkeeping tools
Books first, hours rebuilt.
The ledger is real, but the hours are back-filled from bank statements when the deadline looms. A reconstruction is a story, not a record.
STRDeduct
One thread, start to finish.
The books build from the bank feed, the hours carry evidence from the moment they happen, and both land in the same binder.
One worked year
$230,000
A deductible loss that survives all four gates and offsets W-2 wages of $400,000 — leaving $170,000 taxable. Computed by the engine from a golden test scenario, not typed into the copy.
3.6 nights
average stay
$250,000
bonus depreciation
non-passive
the classification
The Estimator runs this same engine on your year — free, no account.
The method
Correct where the field is sloppy.
001
Average stay is nights ÷ reservations — never nights ÷ 365.
Dividing by the calendar makes almost any listing look like a seven-day property, and the whole classification stands on that one number.
002
The bonus depreciation rate keys on two dates — the binding-contract date and the in-service date — and the line falls on 19 Jan 2025.
Tools that read a single date hand out 100% where 40% applies, or the reverse.
003
The §461(l) loss cap is indexed by year — and the excess becomes a net operating loss, never lost.
Hard-coded caps go stale, and tools that stop at the cap hide the carryforward you keep.
004
States can refuse federal bonus depreciation — California adds the whole deduction back.
A federal-only estimate overstates what a California owner keeps, so the engine computes the state difference as its own line.
Every claim resolves on the method page, where the engine renders its own rules
The capture
Logged in the moment, or it defends nothing.
Some tools rebuild your hours from bank statements and mileage when the deadline looms. A reconstruction is a story about last year. STRDeduct writes the record while the work happens — a voice memo on the drive home becomes an entry with its timestamp, its property and its proof already attached.
Tue 7:41 pm · 0:19
“Turned the cabin over after the Hendersons — two hours with the deep clean, photos in the thread.”
Guest turnover
2:00
- Tue 7:41 pm — logged in the moment
- 4 photos attached
- Counts toward the 100-hour race
For the W-2 owner
Keep the job. Shelter the wages.
The property produces the deduction that offsets the paycheck. The engine runs the participation tests, splits the depreciation, orders the losses — and attaches a trace to every step.
For the operator
Rentals are the business. The questions change.
Schedule, self-employment tax, QBI — the same engine answers them from the same books, traced the same way.
STRDeduct · 2026
The binder
- 01The finding1
- 02Average stay3
- 03The hours log4
- 04The comparison9
- 05Personal use11
- 06Schedule E12
- 07Cost segregation14
- 08The loss trail16
- 09Vendor forms19
- 10Document index21
The deliverable
The year ends in a binder.
Ten sections, rendered as one document: every number, the rule behind it, the proof under it. The four gate chips on the cover are computed from the worked year above — nothing on this page is decoration.
Your CPA gets a link that is read-only at the database itself — anyone can check the year, and no one can edit it.
Squared away in three moves.
1
Connect
Your bank and your booking platforms — the books build themselves.
2
Log
Hours from your phone as the work happens, evidence attached.
3
Hand it over
The year ends in a binder anyone can check — and no one can edit.
Got questions? Plain answers.
What is STRDeduct?
Tax software for short-term rental owners. It builds the books from your bank and booking platforms, logs hours with evidence as they happen, and ends the year with a binder — every number, the rule behind it, the proof under it.
What can I use today?
The Estimator is open to everyone — it runs the real engine against your numbers. The books, the hours log and the binder are still being built; the waitlist below is how you hear when they open.
How is this different from an hours tracker?
An hours app captures time and stops there. STRDeduct puts the hours next to the books they defend — the participation tests, the depreciation, the loss ordering — and carries all of it into one binder. The log is evidence for a number, so the number lives beside it.
How is this different from a bookkeeping tool?
Bookkeeping tools keep a ledger and, at best, reconstruct your hours from bank data when the deadline looms. STRDeduct records the hours as they happen, with the photo and the timestamp — because a log assembled in April defends far less than one written in the moment.
Where do the numbers come from?
From one engine, and the method page renders that engine's own rules — the same code that computes your estimate writes the explanation. No number on this site is typed into the copy.
Will my CPA be able to check it?
That is the point. The binder shows every figure with its rule and its evidence, and the CPA link is read-only at the database — your accountant sees the whole year and changes nothing.
What will it cost?
Pricing is announced when the books open — the waitlist hears first. The Estimator is free now and stays free.
Is this tax advice?
No. STRDeduct is tax software, not a tax advisor. Estimates are educational — decisions belong with you and your CPA.
Not open yet.
First in line is a form away.
The estimator is open to everyone. The books, the hours log and the binder are still being built — leave an email and we will write when they open.