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In my not-so-major-city of 42,000, Airbnb collects the local and state tax. A quick math check reveals that fact.
I think in most cases, Airbnb is obliged to collect and remit all state, county, local and other fees, and remit them to the respective tax collection bureau. At least that’s the case in Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont - all states where I have booked Airbnb stays and tax was added to my booking.
If any Airbnb hosts take bookings off the Airbnb platform, they are obliged to collect and remit occupancy taxes on their own, just like any other STR business that is not exempt from collecting occupancy. Trust me, I get frequent reminders from the MA DOR to file my occupancy taxes, but I just use Airbnb, so I have nothing to file.
I am in a county with less than half that number population.
Edited to add: Just checked and they only collect county HOT in Harris County (the largest one) and they collect city tax in only a handful of cities in Texas.
I don’t really want to go into politics right now, but it’s weird you think government is your friend even after what is currently going on US, both virus and racism related issues.
Technology like this, combined with AirBNB collecting and managing taxes (at least where I host) is one of the reasons I will continue to list on AirBNB.
Here is a funny editorial about NYC Airbhbs recently converted into long term rentals.
Highlights:
Most listings don’t admit the truth about their recent past, but Airbrbs are like obscenity: You know them when you see them. And their sirenlike promise of free housecleaning and designer furniture is both intriguing and repulsive.
The overbearingly themed décor also gives it away: It features a “historical European Style of design,” as the listing puts it, which means about ten lamps per room, taper candles everywhere, and a framed print of Vermeer’s Girl With a Pearl Earring .
Other listings that appear on both rental sites and Airbnb.com make it clear that some hosts turned landlords are unprepared for the rental market they’re entering, optimistically asking for rents that would rival the income they’d make hosting a parade of short-term visitors.
Additionally, an apartment with a sense of interior design may very well be a suspect. Think Knoll chairs, pink walls, vintage prints, and Danish mid-century furniture - classics of the Airbnb Plus genre. Neon signs reading “relax” are also a giveaway, as are New York–themed posters and maps, monstera plants, and textile wall hangings, which make it seem as if the owner has spent their entire budget on Etsy.
But it’s nice, in a way, that so many Airbnb hosts have decided to leave their Le Creuset teakettles and PlayStations behind, because we all really need them right now, and I can’t find a Nintendo Switch anywhere.
and who are those abiding by the law in NYC, when the new law says the host must be present for the duration of the stay of only two people with no locks on any doors? as a single woman, how does this work?
