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Is it true that AirBnB sells my data to third parties who sell it to tax collectors? I met with a tax collector from the county who told me that was how they got my address and charged me over $1000 in back taxes and fees. The invoice stated, “hotel and motel tax”. I was amazed that AirBnB told me nothing about the transaction nor did they contact me to explain what they did. Can this possibly be true? Is there any recourse for hosts? I blocked my account and am leaving.
What RRR said. Good that you’re leaving Airbnb. Hosts who don’t operate legally give us all a bad name. Most hosts are very conscientious people who want to give their guests the best possible experience.
And they also want to sleep at nights. Knowing that you’re defrauding your local community of its taxes doesn’t bring about restful sleep.
I have state taxes paid and of course federal tax. I had never heard of this tax for AirBnB. In fact, you can see from the labeled invoice that stated this was a tax for hotel and motels. The county set up a meeting this month to educate AirBnB people about the “new community development initiative crackdown” on AirBnB, but suddenly it became apparent that everyone owed fines for a tax which had not been collected previously on AirBnB. The county leaders didn’t even know about the AirBnB tax collections for state taxes and even wanted us to pay directly a tax that was already being collected by AirBnB.
The blind leading the blind.
Meanwhile, my question was how tax collectors get our addresses from AirBnB when they aren’t on the website. Are tax collectors buying my address from third parties who are buying my address from AirBnB? Does this really happen and are you happy that AirBnB has not been transparent about their selling my information? Why didn’t AirBnB tell me about this practice? Is AirBnB just another opaque Facebook type seller of my innocently provided information? Shouldn’t we all expect transparency and notification of the transaction? Why is this done subrosa if it’s so okay?
I doubt that Airbnb “sells” anyone’s addresses. It’s far more likely that the data came from business licenses—information that’s already in the public domain.
I review my county’s and township’s commission/zoning meeting notes to see if they’ve discussed or will be discussing anything that affects me as an Airbnb owner. If anything like that is coming up on an agenda, I plan to be at the meeting.
But, regardless. It’s the law. You’re responsible for paying the tax.
You already said that you are stopping doing STR. So really, it doesn’t matter does it? Why go to the bother of posting here, I wonder? We’re not Airbnb, if you have a grievance with them take it up with them.
Selling data? How very last century.
And I’m pretty sure that everyone who starts a business keeps themselves perfectly up to date on local laws, taxes and legislation.
Believe what you want but there’s no need to post it here, is there?
I also don’t think Airbnb sells your info therefore they don’t have to inform you of anything. The Airbnb TOS plainly state that the host is responsible for knowing local laws and abiding by them.
There are software programs that governments are buying that scan the listing services like Airbnb and VRBO to find the offenders. I imagine your local tax authority doesn’t want to be forthcoming about the methods they employ. This isn’t a big secret; we’ve posted about it here multiple times over the past couple of years.
It’s fine if you don’t want to host anymore. That won’t affect airbnb at all as your bookings will be taken by a different host and Airbnb will still get their cut. If this happens to me I’d have to keep hosting because I’d need money even more.
I’m a superhost for 21 quarters. Just saying since you think it’s relevant.
Airbnb doesn’t sell it. They are actually reluctant to give it up. Governments everywhere have been using the court systems to force Airbnb to hand over the information. Governments are also hiring companies that sift through listings to find the addresses of undocumented short term rentals.
There is no such thing as an “Airbnb tax.” It is some kind of occupancy tax for short term rentals. It is your responsibility to know the laws and pay your taxes. If it’s an honest oversight on your part, then so what, pay the tax. If there are penalties, you can try to appeal them. Many state/local governments are sympathetic and will waive penalties as long as you are honest with them and pay the tax quickly.
It seems like you’re saying that you’re not mad about paying the tax, but you’re mad because Airbnb is selling your address. They aren’t, so your reaction is unjustified. Your government agency used whatever resources were available to them to collect the taxes that were due to them and they succeeded. It’s unfortunate that they had to do that because the expense puts a larger burden on all taxpayers. You can see why your peers that pay their taxes would be justified in being angry that you weren’t paying your fair share all along.
Just pay your back-taxes and move on with your business.
“Airbnb agreed earlier this week to disclose host information that would help Hawaii track down unpaid hospitality taxes, after receiving a subpoena from the state.
The agreement is a reversal for the company, which has spent years fighting subpoenas for host information from states and local governments seeking to collect unpaid taxes in locations like Malibu, Napa Valley, and Miami. But experts expect Airbnb to make more agreements of its kind soon, especially as the company plans to go public next year.”
Not only are more government agencies forcing Airbnb to share detailed host information with the government but some government agencies are forcing Airbnb to remove listings that are not legally registered with the agency. How this impacts each host is completely dependent upon where the listing is located.
There are companies that sell software that combs the internet for short term rentals. One is called Host Compliance, which is in widespread use. They also assist governments in crafting appropriate STR and VR ordinances designed to serve everyone and keep the peace. The Transient Occupancy Tax “bed tax” or TOT is a legal requirement in the hospitality industry.
