Taxing vacation get-aways

Let's face it. We live in a beautiful part of the world and other less fortunate people love to visit our home.

Now, with the advent of services like Airbnb, it's becoming easy to rent out a room or personal residence. What is less easy, is the tax treatment afforded income earned though this activity, and what related expenses can be deducted.

You would think it would be simple — pick up amount received as income and deduct related expenses. Right? Well, maybe. If you have a property that's used exclusively for rental that may be true, but what about the spare bedroom in your personal residence, or the income earned last summer when you rented out your home to a nice Italian couple? What expenses can be used to offset that income? What is rental and what is personal?