If your Coachella and Stagecoach bookings are the only ones you have under 27 days, then paying your back taxes to Palm Desert (9%) and the city of Long Beach (12%) should be relatively straighforward 
Lucy. Do you work for Airbnb? Please be honest :)))
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Thanks for the warning. I do not need any complications in my life now. I got into this Air thing very casually and have made some very meagre earnings that have helped me buy groceries and gas. I did not bargain for this impending hassle and complicated red tape regarding taxes. Iâll bail out pretty soon and just do Craigâs or else list with the university.
Sadly thereâs no way to earn money without some tax hassle, but if you are renting your holiday home as either/both a long term and/or a vacation rental there are other deductions to take advantage of in terms of running costs, maintenance, property taxes and depreciation (there many other threads on this forum about such things, so I recommend looking into saving a few bucks there).
Also always remember that, in the case of your home, if youâre renting for less than 14 days a year you donât need to declare that income.
And, no, I donât work for AirBnB (or for a local authority, or as a tax attorney or anything like that), but I am a scientist and relatively new to the US, so a bit of a stickler for all these rules Iâm rapidly having to learn.
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Of course no one on Air is renting for less than 14 days a year! I just checked your profile. You live in L.A. We are neighbors.
Yes they do make my place more expensive. What are you talking about? You add on whatever over and above the stated room rate and the price goes up. I want to just welcome a visitor now and then into my house and give them a bed and tasty meal. Iâm small potatoes as they say.
You think they, whomever they are, will bother with chasing down $72 of revenue from leads from this site? Now that I think of it; I am naive in thinking Airbnb folks donât see this site. Or perhaps they donât.
I just want to echo Lucyâs point that tax collection helps align the interests of the city/town with the interests of the host. Most short term occupancy is in a legal gray zone right now in which the passage of a single local ordinance or statewide law could reduce your Airbnb income to zero. Even in the absence of new laws, itâs a good bet youâre violating some local zoning rule that, if a neighbor got grumpy, could be mobilized against you. Coming out of the gray market and into a formal, regulated, taxed and above-board economy can only be good for the long term. Yes, it might mean slightly less revenue but as compared with what could effectively be a 100% tax (if you were shut down), 9% or whatever is pretty good.
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Iâm not sure what youâre referring to here, but In my last comment I was talking about the things you can deduct from the income tax you pay on your rental income. Tbh, itâs starting to sound like maybe youâre evading more than just transient occupancy tax 
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No, I do not think there are government employees wasting their time watching this forum. I suggested not putting anything on your profile that could easily lead to your listing though.
You never know if another host in your area is reading this and then reports you to local agencies. But if youâre renting out short term stays, you are basically operating like a hotel and have to charge the guest hotel tax, and then turn it in to the government.
Thanks for your comments cabinhost. I do need to see what the local laws are. I know certain areas in my city the neighbors have banded together and gotten short term rental places shut down. How they did it I donât know. For me, I donât think any of the neighbors even know Iâm doing Air. I only accept one guest and this is a fairly busy residential area so people blend in. As for evading more than transient tax, I give a printout of my modest income from my place to my tax guy (I donât itemize) and it doesnât seem to affect my even more modest tax refund. HOWEVER, the problem is with the other listing, which doesnât belong to me; I give that income to the owner. Iâm just doing a favor. But that income combined with mine is going to be quite a bit more next tax year. What I need to do is move the one listing to its own account, which Iâll do after Iâve fulfilled the upcoming reservations. I wonder if I can do it now, mid year?
Itâs frustrating that Hawaii County collects a ginormous amount of excise and TAT, and it is turned over to the state who spends it as they see fit. We need lots of infrastructure repair here but donât get to keep our own taxes within the county.
I feel like visitors should pay. They use our parks, roads and resources. All of that has impact. Our tax is high⌠TAT and local total 13.42% in Hawaii County. But maybe only one or two guests have balked at paying them.
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So you personally collect the tax from your guests? And yes, your taxes are very high, but so are ours here in California with a 9% sales tax.
As Iâve said before here, I need to figure out all these layers of taxation: city, county, state.
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Yes⌠I get them in cash.
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Me too! Just today. Looks like starting in August, Air will start handling occupancy tax collection and remitting it directly to the city. This is good news for L.A. to be sure as they are about to start claiming millions in otherwise lost occupancy taxes they donât have the resources to go after. The problem it presents for me is that until now I have always advertised that all fees (excluding Air fees) are included in my nightly pricing so there are no surprises at booking time. I reckon I canât say that anymore. And, I suppose I should reduce my nightly rate since I will no longer bear the responsibility for collecting and paying occupancy taxes.
Posting the entire text of the âgood newsâ notice below.
Good news: collecting and remitting taxes is about to get easier for hosts.
Weâre happy to announce that starting on August 01, 2016, Airbnb will begin collecting and remitting the following tax(es) on behalf of Airbnb hosts with listings in City of Los Angeles, CA:
City of Los Angeles Transient Occupancy Tax
When we collect these occupancy taxes from guests on your behalf, it wonât affect your payouts. Just like before, youâll receive your accommodation fee minus the Airbnb host service fee.
Whatâs changing
For reservations booked in City of Los Angeles, CA on or after August 01, 2016, guests will see a charge for the occupancy tax. The tax will be listed separately and added to the total amount paid by guests on applicable staysâhosts will not have to do anything extra.
If youâve already been collecting the occupancy taxes for Airbnb guests, you should not do so after August 01, 2016.
To see where weâre collecting occupancy taxes for your listing(s), please check Manage Listing and Calendar > Location.
Your obligations
You should review your agreement with Airbnb under the Terms of Service. The Terms allow us to collect and remit taxes on your behalf and explain how the process works. * Please note that you are responsible for understanding all of your tax obligations. In some areas, taxing authorities (city, county, and/or state) may impose separate occupancy taxes on the same transaction that Airbnb does not collect.
Our agreement to collect and remit taxes on your behalf in City of Los Angeles, CA does not give you a right to operate your listing in City of Los Angeles, CA. You are still required to comply with local rules and regulations that apply to your listing.
Where to learn more
To learn more about how occupancy tax collection and remittance works for Airbnb hosts, please visit our Help Center.
Thanks,
The Airbnb Team
- You should read and familiarize yourself with the Occupancy Tax provisions in the Terms of Service before you accept a reservation. Under those provisions, you instruct and authorize Airbnb to collect and remit Occupancy Taxes on your behalf in jurisdictions where Airbnb decides to facilitate such collection. If you believe applicable laws exempt you from collecting a tax that Airbnb collects and remits on your behalf, you have agreed that, by accepting the reservation, you are waiving that exemption. If you donât want to waive an exemption you believe exists, you should not accept the reservation.
2016-07-18 20:44:19 +0000
I remote host a medium level property in a high end resort area. List on Air and HA/VRBO as well. There are many properties above and below me in quality and price. I have been collecting 12.5% tax in SC for a long time. 9.5% to the state and 3% to the county. As of 6/1 Air is collecting the 9.5%, leaving me to collect the 3%. Up until now I have been including it (eating it) in the Airbnb total. I decided to keep my rates as they are and start collecting the 3% via Square invoice, separately, effectively giving myself the 12.5% raise. As an aggravation tax! I figure I can always go downâŚbut I have had a few inquiries and one booking, and working on another one, since then.
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Jack I see what you are saying. Reduce it just a little bit and get yourself a raise, or donât reduce it at all. Maybe you were paying the tax as a simple expense on your business.
Hawaiiâs governor vetoed this recently but we will see it re introduced next session. He asked for it to have some revisions before it is fully accepted,
Jeez that sounds so incredibly complicated and expensive. What effect do all those taxes have on the bottom line for the guest? Could you give us a rough idea what the total tax portion of the bill for say a week stay at your place would be?
Well, one way or the other itâs $125 per $1000 of rental rate. Low season = ~1000, high season =~2500. On HomeAway/VRBO they have a line item on the invoice, makes it simple. Airâs approach of not having a line item and trying to make deals with each of the 50,000? taxing authorities around the world individually is a mistake. But what do I know?
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I think the problem is trying to figure out, maybe fine tuneâthe exact tax rates/rules and regulations of each and every municipality in every state and country.