Built for Canadian snowbirds who rent their US property.
Whether you rent your Florida or Arizona property only when you're not using it (Jan-Apr snowbirds), or rent year-round to a single tenant, BorderBird handles the day-count, vacation-home rule split, and CRA + IRS filing in one ledger.
Create account, connect Gmail, add a property, add a tenant, run the first scan. Five steps, about a minute each.
Rent payments, utility bills, and receipts detected automatically — matched to the right property, dated, and queued for one-click import.
Years of payments in Yahoo, Outlook, or Apple Mail? Forward them to Gmail and BorderBird imports them with their original dates.
Upload a signed lease PDF — AI pulls dates, rent, and tenant names. Renewals, vacates, and full tenancy history stay organized.
Snowbird rental tax is fundamentally different from pure-investor rental tax
The defining feature of the snowbird-landlord profile is mixed personal and rental use of the same property within the same year. This single fact cascades into a different tax workflow:
- Day-count discipline matters double. Days in the US determine US tax residency exposure (SPT). Days of personal use vs rental use determine Schedule E expense deductibility (§280A vacation-home rules).
- Vacation-home rules cap losses. If personal use exceeds 14 days OR 10% of rental days, the property is a §280A vacation home and rental deductions cap at rental income — no net rental losses allowed. Most snowbirds fall under §280A.
- Below-market family rentals don't count. Renting to family / friends below market converts to personal-use days for the IRS split. Important to know before letting your son-in-law stay in the condo for the week.
- Form 8840 closer connection becomes annual habit. Snowbirds who cross 122 days/year file Form 8840 annually to maintain Canadian tax residency. Skipping a year creates retroactive US-resident exposure.
Your snowbird-landlord tax obligations
US tax residency triggers if (days this year) + (1/3 × days last year) + (1/6 × days two years ago) ≥ 183. Most snowbirds stay under 122 days/year to remain safely under the test. Days in Mexico or other countries don't count toward SPT.
If you meet SPT but maintain stronger ties to Canada (primary home, family, healthcare, vehicle registration, voting), Form 8840 lets you remain a Canadian tax resident. File annually by June 15. Skipping 8840 in a year you crossed SPT means IRS treats you as a US resident retroactively — a much larger tax problem.
Whether you rent out your Florida or Arizona property only when you're not there (4-8 months/year), or rent year-round to a different tenant, the income reports on T776 attached to your Canadian T1. USD converted to CAD using Bank of Canada annual average. Personal-use percentage matters — see FAQ.
Triggered if cost base of US property exceeds CAD $100,000 — virtually certain for any snowbird residential property. Detailed Reporting (above $250k aggregate) requires per-property breakdown. Penalties for non-filing start at $24,000 minimum.
Filed federally for the rental portion of your snowbird property. Schedule E reports rents, expenses, and depreciation. Personal-use days must be tracked — affects deductibility of expenses (vacation-home rules apply when personal use exceeds 14 days or 10% of rental days).
Without Section 871(d), property manager (or you, if self-managing) must withhold 30% of gross rent under FDAP rules. Election (filed with first 1040-NR) shifts to effectively connected income so expenses deduct on Schedule E.
Florida and Texas (most common snowbird states) have no state income tax. Arizona has flat 2.5% (Form 140NR). California (1-13.3%, Form 540NR) and New York (4-10.9%, IT-203) require non-resident filing if you have rental income in those states.
When you eventually sell, buyer's closing agent withholds 15% of gross sale price (10% if buyer-occupant + $300k-$1M; 0% if buyer-occupant + ≤$300k). File Form 8288-B 90+ days before closing to reduce withholding to your actual estimated capital gains tax.
How BorderBird helps snowbird landlords specifically
- Day-count tracking per property. Mark personal use vs rental use vs vacant for every day — produces the §280A split your CPA needs for Schedule E.
- Vacation-home rule visibility.See whether you're tracking toward §280A vacation-home classification (14 personal days OR 10% of rental days) throughout the year, not at filing time.
- Mixed-use expense splits. Property tax, insurance, HOA, utilities all split between personal and rental use automatically based on day-count ratios.
- Bank of Canada FX + T776 for the rental portion. Canadian-side T776 reports the rental share in CAD; personal-use share has no T776 impact (just like Canadian primary residence).
- Snowbird city guides. City-level pages for the largest snowbird destinations — Florida (Tampa, Naples, Sarasota) and Arizona (Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa).