Do I need a lease or rental agreement?

Yes. A written rental agreement is required if you are renting your home to your business under the Augusta Rule.

This is not optional documentation and it is not something to recreate after the fact. Each qualifying business event requires its own contemporaneous rental agreement, signed on or before the event date.

Why a rental agreement matters

When your business pays you rent, the IRS expects the transaction to look and behave like a real rental between two separate parties. The rental agreement establishes that separation by creating a paper trail showing that your business formally rented the property for a specific business purpose, on a specific date, at a defined rate.

Without a written agreement tied to each event, the deduction is far easier to challenge.

Rental agreement inclusions

Each event requires its own agreement. At a minimum, that agreement should clearly document:

The date and time of the rental
The address of the rental
A brief description of the business event or meeting
The rental rate (reflecting fair market value)
The name of the lessor (you as the homeowner)
The name of the lessee (your business entity)
Signatures from both parties (you, in both roles, dated accordingly)

This is not a long lease like you would see with commercial real estate. It is a short term, event specific rental agreement that reflects exactly what occurred.

One agreement per event

A common mistake is assuming a single annual lease covers all meetings. It does not. Each qualifying business event stands on its own and should be documented accordingly. Separate agreements create clarity and consistency, which is exactly what you want if your return is ever reviewed.

The bottom line

If your business is renting your home, it needs to be documented like a real rental. A written rental agreement for each event is a foundational requirement, not a technicality. Done correctly, it strengthens your deduction and aligns your documentation with how the IRS evaluates these transactions.

If you want this handled correctly without managing paperwork every time you host an event, that is where our systemized, done-for-you approach makes sense.