Rental host taxes in Washington

Airbnb, Turo and the rest report your gross and withhold nothing. The gap between that and what you are taxed on is your costs, in Washington that gap is worth $2,252 in tax.

Take a driver who grossed $39,000 over 18,000 business miles. After mileage at 74.3 cents and the rest of the stack, worked through on the rental host page $10,100 comes off and $28,900 is left as taxable profit. That profit is what Washington and the IRS charge against.

What that leaves you owing in Washington

Self-employment tax	$4,083
Federal income tax	$861
Washington income tax	$0, no state income tax
Total tax	$4,944
Effective rate on gross	12.7%

Earning more in Washington

A single filer taking the standard deduction, this work as the only income, the calculator above handles the other filing statuses. Miles rise with earnings, so the deduction rises too, and the effective rate on gross climbs more slowly than it would for someone whose income grew without expenses attached:

Volume	Gross	Mileage off	Taxable profit	Washington tax	Total tax	Rate on gross
Part-time	$13,000	$0	$13,000	$0	$1,837	14.1%
Steady side income	$39,000	$0	$39,000	$0	$7,196	18.5%
Full-time	$63,000	$0	$63,000	$0	$12,729	20.2%

Washington specifics that change the number

On the 2026 rate itself: no general income tax. Capital gains tax 7% on gains >$262,000 (2026), 9.9% on gains >$1M.

Washington is a community property state. In community property states, income earned during marriage is generally owned equally by both spouses. This affects QJV eligibility, MFS filing strategies, and retirement account contribution rules.

Washington is the big exception among no-income-tax states: its business and occupation (B&O) tax is a gross receipts tax, on revenue, not profit, with no deduction for expenses, from the first dollar. For services the rate is 1.5% when prior-year receipts are under $1,000,000 (1.75% from $1,000,000, 2.1% from $5,000,000); retailing is 0.471%. Two reliefs matter for small operators: you only need to register with the Department of Revenue once gross income reaches $12,000 a year, and the small business credit wipes out B&O liability below $3,840 a year for service businesses filing annually.

Local taxes on a Washington let

The income tax below is only part of it. Short-term lets attract occupancy, lodging or transient taxes levied by the city or county rather than Washington, often at rates that dwarf the state income tax. Some platforms collect and remit them; some collect only part; in some places the host is on the hook entirely. That is a local question this calculator cannot answer, and it is the one hosts most often get wrong.

On $28,900 of profit, what the states around Washington would charge:

State	Its tax	vs Washington
Idaho	$1,532	+$1,532
Oregon	$1,583	+$1,583

Idaho would take $1,532 more, $1,532 against Washington's $0.
Oregon would take $1,583 more, $1,583 against Washington's $0.

Rental host tax questions in Washington

How much should a Washington host set aside?

About 12.7% of gross on the $39,000 example, $4,944 across self-employment tax, federal income tax and nothing to Washington. In practice that means moving about $127 of every $1,000 payout into a separate account the day it lands, and sending roughly $1,236 to the IRS each quarter, no platform withholds any of this for you. Set aside from each payout rather than finding it in April.

Does the $39,000 on my 1099-NEC match what Washington taxes?

No. Washington taxes profit, not gross. After $10,100 of deductions the taxable figure is $28,900, so there is no Washington tax either way. But the federal side drops by $2,252. The form reports what the platform paid out, it knows nothing about your costs, and no one subtracts them for you. On this example 26% of the gross never becomes taxable income, but only for the host who kept the records to prove it.