I started hosting in Jul '16. In Apr '17, Airbnb sent a letter stating that beginning May 1, 2017, they would start collecting 10% tax for Nevada County listings. I called Airbnb immediately and said that our listing is located in Placer County. As such, we had been remitting our quarterly Transient Occupancy Tax to Placer County.
I requested that Airbnb continue collecting the 10% tax but to make sure that it remit payment to Placer County. Airbnb said that their tax specialist would contact me.
Beginning May 1, 2017, a 10% Occupancy Tax was included in our"Request to Book" calendar with annotation that it was for an “Accommodations Tax (Nevada).” I followed up with phone calls over the past four months and each time Airbnb said that a tax specialist would contact me. No one contacted me.
Aug 11, 2017 I noticed that my listing no longer carried the Occupancy Tax. Other listings in my area still had it and to this very day, still do. I called Airbnb and requested that they re-start collecting the tax BUT to remit payment to Placer County. They promised they would contact me.
Aug 16, 2017 I called Airbnb and they said that the tax specialist was busy. I later received an email from the rep, saying that any assessment incorrectly made would be reimbursed to the guest. I requested the names of the guests that had their county tax returned to them. Nothing.
Aug 23, 2017 I called Airbnb and they said that a tax specialist would contact me.
Given this situation, would you as a host pursue each guest for their returned Occupancy Tax? I thought of incentivizing guests’ payment by allowing half of that amount to apply to their next stay within two years.