The 14-Day Rule for a Canadian's Florida Condo

A Florida condo that you use as a snowbird for part of the year and rent on Airbnb for the rest sits in section 280A territory. IRC 280A creates a three-way classification based on how many days you use the property personally versus how many days it is rented: full rental (all expenses deductible against rental income), mixed use (expenses allocated between personal and rental use), or personal residence (rental deductions limited to rental income, no loss allowed). For a Canadian who spends 2-4 months in the condo and rents it the remaining months, the classification is consequential because it determines whether the property generates a deductible loss, breaks even, or produces taxable income with no offsetting deduction for the personal-use portion. The cross-border layer adds a complication: your personal-use days in the condo are also days of US presence for the substantial presence test, and the condo’s availability as a personal residence weighs on the closer connection factors.

What is the 14-day rule and how does it work?

Section 280A(d)(1) defines when a dwelling unit is used as a “residence.” The property is a residence if the taxpayer uses it for personal purposes for more than the greater of 14 days or 10% of the number of days during the year for which the unit is rented at a fair rental. Both tests run simultaneously, and the higher of the two numbers is the threshold.

On a condo rented 200 days at fair rental, 10% is 20 days, which exceeds 14, so the threshold is 20 days of personal use. If you use the condo personally for 21 or more days, it is a residence. On a condo rented 100 days, 10% is 10 days, which is less than 14, so the threshold stays at 14. Both tests are measured against fair-rental days, not total days in the year, and days the property sits vacant count as neither personal use nor rental use.

The consequence of crossing the residence threshold: IRC 280A(c)(5) limits deductions allocable to the rental use to the amount of gross rental income, computed after allocating the rental share of mortgage interest and property taxes (which are deductible regardless of 280A). This prevents a net rental loss. The property can break even on the rental side but cannot generate a loss to offset other income.

What counts as personal use under section 280A?

IRC 280A(d)(2) defines a day of personal use as any day on which the unit is used by the taxpayer, any member of the taxpayer’s family (as defined in IRC 267(c)(4)), any individual who uses it under a reciprocal arrangement, or any individual who pays less than fair rental.

For a snowbird, every day you stay in the condo is a personal-use day. Days your spouse stays there (even without you) are personal-use days. Days your children or grandchildren use it (even while you are in Canada) are personal-use days. The definition is broad: family includes siblings, ancestors, and lineal descendants under IRC 267(c)(4).

Two categories of days are NOT personal use. Days spent “substantially full time in repair and maintenance” of the property are excluded under IRC 280A(d)(2). A day you spend repainting, fixing plumbing, or doing a deep clean between guests does not count as personal use. The test is “substantially full time,” not a few hours of work mixed with personal enjoyment. Days when the property is rented at fair rental are rental days, not personal-use days, even if you happen to be on the premises (for example, doing a turnover between guests on a rental day).

How are expenses allocated between personal and rental?

When the property is a residence (personal use exceeds the threshold), expenses are allocated based on the ratio of rental days to total days used. “Total days used” means rental days plus personal-use days. Vacant days are excluded from both the numerator and denominator.

On a condo used 90 days personally and rented 200 days at fair rental, the total days used are 290. The rental allocation is 200/290, or 69%. So 69% of the property taxes, insurance, utilities, HOA fees, depreciation, and repairs are deductible against rental income. The remaining 31% is personal (nondeductible for the personal-use portion of property taxes and insurance beyond what is allowed as an itemized deduction, and entirely nondeductible for depreciation and operating expenses).

The allocation matters most for depreciation. On a $400,000 building depreciated over 27.5 years ($14,545 per year), the rental share at 69% is $10,036. The remaining $4,509 is not deductible. If cost segregation and bonus depreciation were claimed, the allocation reduces the deductible portion of those accelerated deductions proportionally.

The ordering rules under 280A(c)(5) add another constraint. When the property is a residence, the deductions must be taken in a specific order: first, mortgage interest and property taxes (deductible regardless of 280A), then operating expenses (utilities, insurance, management fees, repairs), then depreciation. If the gross rental income is consumed by interest, taxes, and operating expenses, no depreciation deduction is available for the year. The unused depreciation is not lost; it carries forward under the passive activity rules, but it cannot create a loss in the current year.

Does the reverse 14-day rule apply to snowbirds?

Rarely. IRC 280A(g) says that if a dwelling unit is used by the taxpayer as a residence during the year and is actually rented for fewer than 15 days during the year, the rental income is excluded from gross income and no rental deductions are allowed. This is the “Augusta rule” or “Masters week” provision. For a snowbird who rents the condo on Airbnb for the months they are not using it, the rental period is far more than 14 days, so this provision does not apply. It applies only to the narrow case of a condo used primarily as a personal residence with a handful of rental days (for example, renting during a local event while you are not there).

How does personal use interact with the closer connection?

This is the cross-border layer that the domestic analysis does not address. Every day of personal use in the condo is also a day of US presence for the substantial presence test. A condo that you own and maintain as available for personal use throughout the year is a permanent home in the US for purposes of the closer connection test, regardless of how many days you actually use it.

The interaction creates a tension. From a US income tax perspective, you want to minimize personal-use days to stay below the 280A residence threshold (or at least to maximize the rental allocation). From a US residency perspective, you want to minimize your US presence days to stay below the substantial presence test threshold. Both goals push in the same direction: fewer personal days in the condo. But the closer connection test’s permanent home factor asks not just how many days you used the condo, but whether it was “available to you at all times, continuously” (Reg 301.7701(b)-2(d)(2)). A condo that sits vacant between rental bookings while you are in Canada, maintained by a property manager, furniture in place, ready for your return, is available to you continuously, and that availability weighs against you on the closer connection factors whether you used it for 30 days or 90.

The practical advice: the 280A allocation and the closer connection analysis are not contradictory. You want to minimize personal-use days for both reasons. But active management of the STR during your personal-use period can create additional residency risk by moving your tax home to the US, which is a separate problem from the personal-use day count.

What should I do next?

Count the actual days before anything else. Separate the year into three buckets: personal-use days (every day you or family members use the condo), rental days (every day the condo is rented at fair rental), and vacant days (everything else). Compare the personal-use days to the greater of 14 or 10% of rental days. If you are above the threshold, the property is a residence and 280A(c)(5) caps your rental deductions at rental income. If you are below, you can claim a rental loss (subject to the passive activity rules under IRC 469). The day count determines the allocation ratio for every deductible expense, so getting it right before the tax year ends lets you adjust: adding rental days or reducing personal-use days before December 31 can change the classification for the entire year. For the full operational compliance picture, read the snowbird Airbnb tax guide.

This guide is general information, not tax advice for your specific situation. Which points apply, and how, depends on your facts.