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Hey there! Happy Sunday. I have a couple of things would like to talk about with you the most experience hosts.
a) Is it Ilegal to list your rental property on airbnb South Florida or the new regulations only affect Miami, how about Broward county?
b) If in fact its not allowed how come I see multiple postings at very well known rental buildings in Brickell? I recognize those buildings from the photos the hosts post.
c) I heard there are some are small areas in Miami that aren’t subject to these new regulations care to tell me where are the areas?
a) What do you mean “list …on airnb South Florida?” On the AirBnb site? Somewhere else? Never heard of “airbnb South Florida” except here on AirHost Forum…
a) What do you mean “the new regulations affect only Miami…” What new regulations???
South Florida and Miami are NOT the same thing. I do know Miami has passed to restrictions but you would be better asking the City than asking us.
It is, but it is an international forum. Most of us do not know the rules and regulations for parts of the world where we are not hosting.
Your local city/town, county and state government websites will be your best sources of information. You might also search for a Broward county host group on Facebook.
We actually have many members on this site who host in FLL so keep an eye out for their responses which might provide clarification if you’re reading local regs and having a hard time interpreting them.
I don’t know about NEW regulations but I know that STR is illegal in MOST of Florida. There’s 2 little podunk counties that don’t care because no one would stay there anyway but everyone else demands that you:
Pay to APPLY for a business license even tho NO landlord has such requirements.
Pay for the license if approved. IF approved.
No SFH is zoned for STR so unless your MFH lease says you can sublet or unless you own an apartment building or a duplex, you can’t legally host. EXCEPT for those 2 podunk counties out in cow country.
If you get that far, you have taxes. Road taxes, tourism taxes, taxes on your furnishings & fixtures, & income tax. I feel like I’ve forgotten some…anyway, these taxes are designed to be so burdensome that you make no profit, stop STR, and do not compete with all the hotels & vacation properties.
No host from FL is going to, on record, admit to any illegal activity so I very much doubt you’ll get much of a response.
KJC - Thats the best answer, you went beyond my expectations. Thank you very much you couldn’t say it any better. And I also appreciate the time the rest of you took to reply to my post.
@KJC – I dunno what part of the state you’re in, but Short Term Rentals are perfectly legal everywhere I’ve lived and visited along the Gulf coast, from Tarpon Springs to Naples. I live, and have our listing, in Fort Myers.
Been there, did that bit of “due diligence” when we started with Air nearly 2 years ago. We are 100% legal with city/county/state, and Air pays all our taxes for us.
I just looked at the counties you mentioned one more time. You must offer a very unique property to run legally in this state. SFHs can never compete with you and certainly no one offering a shared space will ever be as legal as you. You also must charge a great deal after you’ve paid for all the licenses and then all the taxes. That tangible property tax, hotel tax, road tax, local city tax on top of income taxes are real profit killers, huh?
Sorry, I read that at 1st, that you make enough income from Air that the profit pays your income. Now I think you mean that Air actually pays your taxes for you-which is common knowledge that they DO NOT pay all the local taxes. You are responsible for paying the rest. Google it. The news is full of hosts who have gotten busted & say they didn’t know they weren’t paying ALL their taxes & they thought Air was taking care of it for them.
I’m still in the research phase of starting Airbnb. But I’m in Broward County. I think Miami is becoming a serious heat case and new regulations are being pushed. I already own a multi family property, where the cottage is rented so I’ve had a business license for that anyway( I think they are $50). And I am already accustomed to paying income tax and having deductions for the rental income. But I’m thinking about converting part of the house into an Airbnb and then eventually switching my traditional rental over, when the lease is up. My understanding is that Airbnb collects the 5% bed tax for Broward and remits it to the county on your behalf. This will be a new expense for me, because my long-term rental cottage does not have to pay that. You would be responsible for claiming your income and doing your tax deductions with the state on your own. I live in a place near the beach where short term rentals are everywhere, and I don’t have an HOA. I’m not seen anything that we have to follow ADA rules as hotels do. I’m not sure if my homeowners insurance will be affected by a short term rental yet. But I’m in a house that already zoned for multi family. You need to be careful where you live before you make the decision. You’re not gonna be able to avoid the taxes, now that Broward County has a contract with Airbnb. Perhaps the smaller similar companies out there like Airbnb, do not have such a commitment with the County. But it’s probably only a matter of time.
It’s common knowledge that Airbnb isn’t paying all your taxes. How could they even begin to guess your Tangible Personal Property Tax? That’s a tax on the fixtures & furnishings. They don’t know. If you want to be 100% legal you’ll have to really hunt down local taxes otherwise 1 phone call from a neighbor or a jealous Airbnb host will shut you down, get you busted for fines & back taxes. Especially in Miami!
Maybe the county doesn’t, but each city can. At least mine does:http://www.hollywoodfl.org/218/Local-Business-Tax
When I bought my house, they automatically sent it to me. Maybe because I was already zoned as a multi family. If you’re not, I guess they wouldn’t know the difference.
Thank you all for this very useful and important information. I was preparing to rent out my vacation home in Citrus county, Florida and thought it would be simply a matter of creating a post with airbnb, adding combination locks, and spiffing up the place a bit. Silly me. Before I hit the final submit I decided to do some more in depth research and was extremely happy to find this site. With the lightbulb that this will be a serious business venture, I will need to obtain a DBPR license and look into additional home insurance. As for taxes, it sounds like they are convered by the info below - unless there are more that I am unaware of… which I will need to consult with my tax accountant on. I am now questioning whether I am ready for the commitment of tracking and reporting the information on this business, and whether the ROI will be worth it.: I will also check to see if there is a Citrus County FB grup. Thanks again for all the tips!
Guests who book Airbnb listings that are located in the State of Florida will pay the following taxes as part of their reservation:
• Florida Transient Rental Tax: 6% of the listing price including any cleaning fee for reservations 182 nights and shorter. For detailed information, visit the Florida Dept. of Revenue website.
• Florida Discretionary Sales Surtax: 0.5%-1.5% of the listing price including any cleaning fee for reservations 182 nights and shorter. The State imposes both a statewide 6% tax and a local 0.5-1.5% tax, which varies by county. For detailed information, visit the Florida Dept. of Revenue website.
• County Tourist Development Taxes collected by the State: 2-5% of the listing price including any cleaning fee for reservations 182 nights and shorter. The state administers 24 county taxes, including: Bradford, Citrus, Columbia, Desoto, Dixie, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Levy, Madison, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Pasco, Sumter, Wakulla, and Washington.
• https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/653/in-what-areas-is-occupancy-tax-collection-and-remittance-by-airbnb-available#Florida
