Main Street Business

#566 Can an RV be Deducted on Your Taxes? (RV Tax Strategies for 2025)

• Mark J Kohler and Mat Sorensen

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In this episode of the Main Street Business Podcast, Mark J. Kohler and Mat Sorensen break down tax-saving strategies for RV owners in 2025! Whether you're a weekend warrior or a full-time traveler, learn how to turn your RV into a business asset, claim deductions, and keep more money in your pocket. 

Here are some of the highlights:

  • Mark and Mat provide statistics on RV ownership, noting that 13% of US households own a recreational vehicle and 43 million Americans regularly go RVing.
  • Mat discusses the concept of full-time RVers and the opportunities for work campers in RV parks.
  • Mark explains the financial benefits of not selling one's home but renting it out as an Airbnb to cover RV expenses.
  • How full-time RVers cannot write off their RV as a home but can write off a portion if it is used as a home office.
  • Part-time RV owners should determine how many days a year they will use the RV and consider its potential business use.
  • Mark points out that if an RV is 100% available for rent, it can be written off as a business asset.
  • Mat highlights the flexibility of using an RV for both personal and business purposes, making it a versatile asset.
  • The possibility of writing off mileage for business use when moving the RV for work.
Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Main Street Business Podcast with your distinguished hosts, mark J Kohler and Matt Sorenson. Both are best-selling authors and have over 25 years of industry experience, with 10,000 client consultations, making them the leading tax and legal experts in the nation. Together, they'll unpack the most complex tax, legal and financial strategies crucial for saving more, stressing less and building generational wealth. Today they're your personal advisors, ready to break it down for you and make the tax and legal game easier than ever.

Speaker 2:

Here is Mark and Matt. I've met with a lot of full-time RVers. There's a financial strategy here. You're literally moving your home for business. You're getting 1099s where you go, so you have a business. That's probably the biggest benefit of the full-time RVer. I can choose one of these nine states that have no state income tax and go. I'm moving my domicile. Do you ever go anywhere with your small business where you could use the RV to get there? Do you go to conferences, events, do you go pick up supplies? Do you go meet with vendors? All of a sudden, this RV becomes a work truck. This RV becomes a work truck.

Speaker 2:

Welcome everybody to another episode of the Main Street Business Podcast. My name is Mark Kor. I'm here with the illustrious Vance Sorenson. We're here to talk about an exciting topic. It is RV show time in America. It's February, march. Everyone's going to RV shows getting ready for the summer.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and you want to talk about taxes? Yeah, well, hey, anybody that's buying an RV is like how can I write this thing off? Yeah, I mean, that's just what the wife does not want her husband to know. Yeah, she's like hey, he doesn't need one more reason to be able to buy the RV. You know the lifestyle we can have. Oh, my country, babe, and it's a tax write-off. That's just like your gateway, that's your way in. Okay, now, some of you may be wondering why are you talking about this tax write-off RVs? Okay now, if you own an RV, you're like all in. You already saw this broadcast. Do you know?

Speaker 2:

Rv ownership in 2024 was to 11 million households. 13% of US households own a recreational vehicle. 43 million Americans regularly go RVing. I just invested into an RV resort. Did you really? Yeah, tell me that. Yes, and they have multiple locations, from Lake of Ozarks to Virginia. So, yeah, that's cool. Did you know this? 39% of those 43 million Americans are millennials. Yeah, over a third are millennials, young people Over 16,500 campgrounds just for RVs this year and, um, this is the one cause I did a pod uh, uh, uh class the other day for full-time RVers. One and a half million Americans live full-time in RVs, so this is a big deal.

Speaker 2:

So we wanted to just cover some issues when it comes to acquiring the RV how can I ride it off, what are my options and how can you make money with your RV. Can I say the word Waverly? Yeah, yeah, waverly got the work camper stuff, which is interesting because these RV owners knew that strategy and they loved having those work campers come onto their parks. Work campers are people who will, like, come onto the park and they're kind of the ones that you know, you greet when you come in and they got the nice RV sitting there. They know what's going on, they're kind of looking over the place and they're getting paid to be there. Yeah, that's their business, yeah, sitting there and that's a piece of business equipment. Okay, so let's, let's be very practical about this.

Speaker 2:

So we're going to divide this into two camps. The first camp is those full-time RVers, which are the minority that are literally living full-time. They've sold their sticks and bricks, as we like to call it in the industry. They've sold the sticks and bricks. They're living full-time in the RV. And then the other category is those folks that are using the RV off and on. Maybe many of you listening are like, yeah, I got an RV sitting next to my house. I go out for two weeks out of the year. It's kind of like the boat. You know, you got that boat. You're just, I wish you use more. Yeah, just sitting there. So that whole other camp of RV owners that use it once in a while or we're going to talk about maybe in your business. Those are, those are the two camps.

Speaker 2:

And uh, do you ever find yourself thinking you're gonna go live full-time in an rv? Never, I know you do. I know you, at least the month or two out of the year I'm I mean, I don't know, caddy, and i're out looking right now. I could maybe do a weekend, maybe a week. Hell, yeah, wait till you. It's, it's exciting. Wait till you go.

Speaker 2:

You know what I love about it the most is when you roll into a campground. I just got a ting of emotion. Literally, you roll into a campground and it's just salt of the earth. People, yeah, they're just out there with their campfire, their lawn chairs, their American flag, maybe their dogs, their kids are on bikes riding around, or they're older, younger, everywhere in between, and they're just like, hey, what's up? Yeah, you know, what do you do? They're out in the outdoors too. Usually they're in beautiful places. Yeah, I'll get the mountain air. Yeah, oh, it's just, usually those are in beautiful places and, yeah, I'll get the mountain air. Yeah, oh, this is beautiful, okay.

Speaker 2:

So those that are full-time rvers, let me just say this in summary, and quite quickly, you're not going to be able to write off your rv itself because it's your home and there's court cases on this. Uh, if you have the toy hauler in the back and we turn it into a home office exclusively a home office which some people with the fifth wheels do, that's cool. You could, we could write off a portion of the RV under the toy hauler home office exception. But other than that, we might take mileage. If you're using this RV for business too, you're like going from location to location. Like Matt said, you might be at this national park here, then you're going to go work at the Amazon fulfillment center park here, then you're going to go work at the Amazon Fulfillment Center during Christmas. Then you're going to go work at Six Flags in Oklahoma here, yeah. So you're literally moving your home for business. It's not a moving deduction, but you're getting 1099s where you go. So you have a business. I'll write off some mileage, yeah, but you're not writing off your RV. Yeah, but you're not writing off your RV. So, yeah, but you enjoy it when you sell your home.

Speaker 2:

There's a lot of nice things there, right, yeah, yeah, I mean, what are the in terms of, like state tax income, though you know there's some strategies there, right, cause then maybe you, you know, move that domicile and move the domicile. You've been in California and now you're out on the American road across the U? S and you right, and how do I get out from? Cause I might still have some other income? I have investments, I might have business incomes or my security yeah, my retirement account, you know, um, taking money out of a traditional IRA or something. So that's probably the biggest benefit of the full-time RPR I'm glad you brought that up is that I can choose one of these nine States that have no state income tax and go, I'm moving my domicile. Uh've had it with California tax, illinois, new York, one of these big blue state tax rates, and you say I'm going to just move my domicile, and legitimately. Now I've got some YouTube videos on this. It's a big conversation. I reestablish it you don't just get to like pick the state on your tax return. I live here because I got a PO box in South Dakota yeah, not going to fly, but so there's a lot to talk about there, but a big opportunity.

Speaker 2:

And you also don't own a home anymore, with property tax, the ongoing maintenance and a lot of people are home rich and a little retirement poor. So this is a chance to pull that money off the table and sell. A home exemption Gets that cash out tax free, yeah, okay. Now I want to tell me what you think this. This is next level. Now you full-time RVers. That was baseline. Next level don't sell your home. Put it into a rental pool Long-term rental. It's already furnished. It could be a great Airbnb. Now you're cash-flowing your home, paying for the RV payment if you had to get an RV payment and now you've actually maintained that equity in your home. You're still cash neutral and you're creating cashflow, probably in excess. And now you're being smart with your money.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I love that, because I'm always talking about building wealth right, and the best way to build wealth is to accumulate assets that appreciate in value and generate income. Well, when you move out of your home, what is it? It's an asset that appreciates in value that turns into a rental that can generate income. And so why sell it? Now you may say, well, it's in California and the rental income to the value is not great. I could sell it. Get sell up home exemption and buy other rentals and other places that cash flow better and I might feel a better appreciation. So, but what I'm saying here is don't liquidate assets that can appreciate so over time and give you some income, and you've been a big believer in that. I've seen you do that. Yeah, I've like my last couple of houses or rental properties. They're not like I don't sell them why? Yeah, oh, you're so slow. I love it.

Speaker 2:

Now for some of you listening to an RP tax strategy whoa, there's a financial strategy here. Is that, if you want? And I'll just talk to this now I've met with a lot of full-time RVers. It's a phase and I'll kind of let me just say that it's a phase of life. It's a phase of life when you're living in, you know, 200 square feet and your closet is the size of your fridge. You're like I can do this for a year or two. So, yeah, let's be smart with our home. Let's not be quick to just like I'm going to get out of here. I'm going to live our full-time RV for the rest of my life. You know, none of us do everything for the rest of our life, so let's be smart with that. There's a lot of personal family decisions that go with that, but financially let's not be impetuous. I think, okay, so okay, now that let's set aside full-time RVer there, lots to unpack. Okay, you got an RDS on the side of your house right now.

Speaker 2:

What I like to do is meet with a client go, what's your plan? You know you're not living in a full-time. That's cool. How many days a year? And you're like, oh, or live in it. I say, use it. And I say 14 days, because if they take off for a weekend, that's only two to three days. Yeah, you know, are you really going to put more than two weeks, maybe three weeks, in that RV? You may put more. Hang tight, I'm just unpacking.

Speaker 2:

Then I asked do you have a small business? Do you ever go anywhere with your small business where you could use the RV to get there? Do you go to conferences, events? Do you go pick up supplies? Do you go meet with vendors? Do you go meet with customers? Do you have a rental property in another state? Do you have a rental property two cities over and you need a office tool equipment center call them RV that you're going to put outside of that rental while you rehab. All of a sudden, this RV becomes a work truck. It becomes a. I mean, you see big construction companies with these mobile offices, you know, yeah, so they have a. If you have a, call someone that, if you're one of those people with a small business where the RV could be used as a tool, now we unlock a lot of opportunity with that. What type of opportunity are we talking here? So the opportunity is you could write off the entire sorry about miles here.

Speaker 2:

Yeah we're not talking about miles. So now let's just do. Maybe we'll do an example Chris Kyler, one of our partners in the law firm over the years. His mom and dad have a Santa Claus making business. I don't know if you ever knew that, I did not. She makes like almost five foot tall Santa Clauses. It's cool. It's really big in the craft industry and if you go to Christmas stores around the country there are many open year round. They have these really ornate Santa Claus, okay, cool, Okay. So now he was a sheriff, sacramento County Okay, cool guy.

Speaker 2:

But their hobby was we're going to build these Santa Clauses. So they had a little workshop. Their hobby was we're going to build these santa clauses. So they had a little workshop keyword there and they'd take supplies, build these santa's. So what they do in the spring is they'd load up their rv with supplies. They go around the country and picking up uh, I'm gonna actually put the sailor. They get in their rv and start driving around the country in the spring and going to trade shows and they'd be picking up supplies. They'd have special fabric and buttons and this, that and another, that they'd build these Santas with wood, blah, blah, blah.

Speaker 2:

And then guess what A lot of that route. It just seemed to be weird. Their grandkids would live in a lot of those towns where their trade shows were and the supply centers and craft stores Makes sense, that's where the best shows are, yeah, exactly. So they'd cruise around with their RV, pick up all the supply, work on it in the summer they have the little workshop, it was super cute and then in the fall they'd load up all their Santas and go around and make another tour and drop off all the Santas at consignment shops Park City, utah, deer Valley, aspen. Rich people like to buy these little Santas and they drop off all these Santa Clauses. And gosh, it was weird. It was kind of a route where grandkids live Santa family and then they go park their work truck work RV back next to their house.

Speaker 2:

That RV was 100% write-off. If they were to use it two weeks out of the year, that's allowed by the IRS. You can use up to 14 days for personal use and still write a hundred percent of it. So they would literally had this 50,000, then they upgraded a hundred thousand. Whatever trailers, fifth wheels, they went through all the different machinations. They were all a business write-off 100% against their Santa Claus business.

Speaker 2:

I've got clients that are contractors, real estate investors, insurance agents, rv inspectors, rv repairmen. The RV trailer, fifth wheel, whatever version you have, becomes a business, be it. Yeah. Huge write-off yeah.

Speaker 2:

What about the work camper, too, though? Same thing or no, I'm doing it. They're traveling and using that going spot to spot. It's where they reside. They're getting 1099. They're staying at a RV resort looking over at our RV park. Wherever it may be, I like it. It starts to become a percentage of business use versus personal and how many days out of the year. So when you're on the and you've got to maintain your sticks and bricks, yeah, so you may live in California and we're going to get in the RV and go work in four or five locations using our RV as a work shop, a home office, and get 10 99s. Uh, we have a better opportunity to write off a portion of the RV, but we even brought up Waverly. So there are.

Speaker 2:

So make, I don't have a business. We love this strategy issue. Waverly is a lot easier. I mean, this is thing of like Toro, if you're familiar with that, you know, for renting out a car, it's like we're just doing it with RV. You know it was.

Speaker 2:

I was meeting with a client that has an Airstream on the side of their house that they rent out through Airbnb actually, but that could just as easily have an engine on it and you know like be movable, and it's, it's. It's that's what Waverly is, so you can rent out your RV to other people using the Waverly app and, of course, do it because that can make you income and generate income. We're not just want you to chase tax strategies for the hell of it. We're just saying there could be good business proposition and opportunity here for you to go do this, live out some of the things that you want to do, have the benefit of these assets for a little bit of personal use, but also let's make some money on it, and there's tax deductions and incentives there. So putting it into rent, which is putting it into use, would be Waverly. Think of it like Turo, which we have a lot of clients that have done Turo too, or Airbnb, of course. Yeah, but I don't even know how that gets written off versus, like my rental in Airbnb. Oh well, you're going to love it.

Speaker 2:

So the IRS rule on this is that if I make that Airstream on the side of the house a hundred percent available for rent. Yeah, so I'm going to make this. Yeah, I'm going to go on. Waverly created an account and Waverly has the oh, will you go put this RV in a local spot for the renter, or can they come pick it up with their truck, or is it an RV, not a trailer, and they can drive away? So Waverly has all these different options. They even have pop-up trailers and some renter vans the whole nine yards.

Speaker 2:

So you take that Airstream, put it on Waverly. It's 100% available year round. Now it's not going to be 100% rented, so you might stay in it once in a while yourself. That's okay, up to 14 days a year. So I've got that option. I can put it in the pool. And when I do put it in the pool and it's 100% available, it is now 100% deductible. It is now a business asset, okay, just like your Airbnb. Yeah, you put it on Airbnb. It's available year round. You can use it 14 days out of the year, no problem, and still make it a hundred percent rental. So it's the same thing with the RV.

Speaker 2:

So you say well, I bought the RV three years ago. Will you put place it in service now at fair market value or basis, whichever is less. Now it goes on the books value or basis, whichever is less. Now it goes on the books complete depreciate. You know, depreciable asset. Now this year, with the, with the tax policy in the works we got the house and Senate and Donald Trump is pushing to get his tax cuts and jobs act extended we could see a hundred percent bonus depreciation again. So now you just wrote off a $50,000 RV and one failed swoop and you created cashflow, cashflow using this asset sitting around. Yep. So if RV life is calling, it turns out, maybe you can make some money and save some taxes. Yeah, on the way, Lots of options. Yeah, I got all sorts of YouTube videos on it.

Speaker 2:

So are you going to? Would you go with the trailer or would you go? Okay? So the trailer, you put on a hitch. You got the fifth wheel that hooks in the big ass trailer. I don't want that because I don't want the truck for that, because otherwise that truck's out. Yeah, and you got to get like a 350. Yeah, I would say the trailer Don't want to do the fifth wheel. I'd probably go for a trailer. Yeah, you're like, get in there and drive it. Yeah, like Robin Winn-Yells. I like that. Yeah, I like a little separate space from where I'm driving and you know, I don't know, yeah, well, and from a tax write-off standpoint, people, if you have a truck pulling your trailer, now you've got two different vehicles, so now the truck could have its own deduction mileage business. The RV or that trailer itself could be a business asset or not You're going to park it next to your rehab. I'd love this for real estate investors too.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Because where you store your tools you're doing a rehab. Pull it over by your rehab, even in town you might be working late. You're like I'm going to stay in the RV tonight. I mean, I'm using me over my Airbnb. We were working until midnight, so we're like man. If I would add RBL front or trailer, I love that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so lots of options and hopefully you're finding this helpful. If you have a main street business, if you have this asset lingering on the side of your house called an RV, or a waste of money as some of your significant other might call it, you now make money, save taxes, and please also schedule a call with one of our lawyers that can help build a trifecta, build a plan, talk about these assets. How can you make your portfolio of assets so you might even not see as investments all of a sudden blossom into a great way to make money and save taxes, and you don't know what you don't know? Yeah and yeah, we have a passion for helping our clients who are small business owners, investors. Whether you're starting a business, you have an existing business main hustle, side hustle we want to talk about how to help you grow that, protect the assets that you have, save taxes and build wealth along the way. So thanks everybody. We'll see you next week for another episode of the Main Street Business Podcast. Until then, the dream lives on.

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