Updated October 18, 2026. Quick answer: Lines 5 to 11 are the first seven expense lines for each rental or royalty property: advertising, auto and travel, cleaning and maintenance, commissions, insurance, legal and other professional fees, and management fees. You build each from your own records. Lines 6 and 10 have their own instructions.
What lines 5 to 11 ask for
The form captions the seven lines as “Advertising”, “Auto and travel (see instructions)”, “Cleaning and maintenance”, “Commissions”, “Insurance”, “Legal and other professional fees” and “Management fees”. They follow the income on Schedule E lines 3 and 4 and sit above the interest and depreciation lines on Schedule E lines 12 to 19. The schedule as a whole is mapped on the Schedule E (Form 1040) page.
What counts as an expense
The instructions open the expense lines with “Enter your rental and royalty expenses for each property in the appropriate column.” “You can deduct all ordinary and necessary expenses, such as taxes, interest, repairs, insurance, management fees, agents’ commissions, and depreciation.” Two exclusions follow: “Do not deduct the value of your own labor or amounts paid for capital investments or capital improvements.”
If you rent only part of your property: “If you rent out only part of your home or other property, deduct the part of your expenses that applies to the rented part.” Your records of what you paid come from invoices, bank statements and the insurance and management statements for each property. The instructions also say “You must keep records to support items reported on Schedule E in case the IRS has questions about them.”
Line 6: auto and travel
The instructions say “You can deduct ordinary and necessary auto and travel expenses related to your rental activities, including 50% of meal expenses incurred while traveling away from home.” “In most cases, you can either deduct your actual expenses or take the standard mileage rate.”
For the mileage method: “If you take the standard mileage rate, multiply the number of miles driven in connection with your rental activities by 70 cents a mile. Include this amount and your parking fees and tolls on line 6.” “You cannot deduct rental or lease payments, depreciation, or your actual auto expenses if you use the standard mileage rate.”
For actual expenses: “Include on line 6 the rental activity portion of the cost of gasoline, oil, repairs, insurance, tires, license plates, etc.” and “Show auto rental or lease payments on line 19 and depreciation on line 18.” Line 18 is on Schedule E lines 12 to 19. The paperwork rule is “If you claim any auto expenses (actual or the standard mileage rate), you must complete Part V of Form 4562 and attach Form 4562 to your tax return.” That form is explained on the Form 4562 page.
Lines 5, 7, 8, 9 and 11
Advertising (line 5), cleaning and maintenance (line 7), commissions (line 8), insurance (line 9) and management fees (line 11) take the general rule above: the expense must be “ordinary and necessary” and tied to the property in that column. The instructions name “insurance, management fees, agents’ commissions” among the deductible examples.
Line 10: legal and other professional fees
The instructions say “Include on line 10 fees for tax advice and the preparation of tax forms related to your rental real estate or royalty properties.” “Do not deduct legal fees paid or incurred to defend or protect title to property, to recover property, or to develop or improve property.” What to do instead: “Instead, you must capitalize these fees and add them to the property’s basis.”
Where it goes next
Lines 5 to 11 are added with the rest of the expenses. The form captions the sum as “Total expenses. Add lines 5 through 19” (line 20), covered at Schedule E lines 20 to 22. Each property’s column then feeds line 21, and the Part I totals are on Schedule E lines 23a to 26. The return the result reaches is explained on the Form 1040 page.
Edition and line numbers
This page reads the 2025 Schedule E (Form 1040) and its 2025 instructions, the current files irs.gov served on 2026-10-18. They are byte-identical to the archived copies and they are the files for the tax year 2025 return, filed in 2026. The schedule says “Attach to Form 1040, 1040-SR, 1040-NR, or 1041.” Schedule E has its own instructions booklet, titled “Instructions for Schedule E” (Form 1040). Check the tax year printed on the schedule you are filling in and use the line numbers on that year’s schedule, because a different year’s schedule can number or word its lines differently.
Common mistakes
- Deducting your own time. The instructions say “Do not deduct the value of your own labor or amounts paid for capital investments or capital improvements.”
- Taking the mileage rate and also deducting car costs. The instructions say “You cannot deduct rental or lease payments, depreciation, or your actual auto expenses if you use the standard mileage rate.”
- Deducting legal fees that defend title. The instructions say “Do not deduct legal fees paid or incurred to defend or protect title to property” and tell you to capitalize them.
Related: Schedule E (Form 1040), Form 4562, and Form 1040.
Sources
- Instructions for Schedule E (Form 1040), Supplemental Income and Loss (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040se.pdf
- Schedule E (Form 1040), Supplemental Income and Loss (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040se.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 18, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.