Airbnb Occupancy Taxes

Airbnb collects and remits most taxes, but not all...

Brent Kleinheksel avatar
Written by Brent Kleinheksel
Updated over a week ago

This is from Airbnb...

If you’re a host who has provided your relevant tourist tax registration info, you may be eligible to collect taxes directly from guests. With this feature, you can set the type of tax, the way you want to collect it (percentage per booking, fee per guest, fee per night, or fee per guest per night), and what you want to collect it on (nightly price, fees, and other charges).

If you’re in a region or jurisdiction where we collect and remit taxes on your behalf (automatic or default tax collection), you may still be able to add taxes to your listing. Depending on the jurisdiction, you may have one of two options:

  1. Opt out of the default tax collection and add your own taxes instead

  2. Add taxes in addition to the taxes we automatically collect. Review the occupancy tax collection amounts to see what Airbnb collects on your behalf before adding additional taxes.

If you opt out of default tax collection and add your own taxes, we collect the taxes on your nightly rate and fees but pass them to you to remit to the tax authorities. If you add taxes in addition to the taxes we automatically collect, we pass your additional taxes to you to remit to the tax authorities, and we remit the taxes we automatically collect directly to the tax authorities. If you opt out of default tax collection, adding a tax replaces all default taxes.

Once the feature is set up, tax will be calculated based on your tax base setting. Guests are shown any taxes you’ve applied in the Occupancy Tax section of their price breakdown.

What can be taxed

  • Nightly rate (including Airbnb host fee)

  • Standard fees: management, community, and linen fees

  • Cleaning fees

Adding / Configuring Occupancy Taxes

From the Airbnb integrations screen, click the Occupancy Taxes column for the property you want to work with...

You will have the option to select an existing tax or create a new one...

Some of these field may be confusing, here are some definitions provided by Airbnb:

Tax IDs

Business tax ID

A tax ID for a business is a unique number relating directly to the business itself. For example, in the US, your business tax ID is your federal employer identification number (EIN); in the UK, your business tax ID is your unique taxpayer reference (UTR); and in Estonia, your business tax ID is your registration code for legal persons. This ID number will vary based on where your business is registered. This ID number may be used to identify your business for multiple purposes, not just taxes. Usually your business tax ID is issued at the time of tax or business registration. You can find this number on tax or business documents you’ve received.

This field is optional.

Accommodations tax registration number

Many jurisdictions in the US issue an accommodations tax registration number, which is the unique number you were assigned by your local taxing jurisdiction. Depending on the jurisdiction, this may be an accommodations tax-specific registration number or a local business registration or account number. For example, in Florida, your accommodations tax registration number would be your state sales tax registration number for sales tax, and county tourist development tax number for tourist development tax; in Sacramento, California, your accommodations tax registration number is your business customer account number for transient occupancy tax; and in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, your accommodations tax registration number is your CAPC tax permit number. Your accommodations tax registration number will vary based on the specific tax you are collecting in addition to the jurisdiction.

Many non-US jurisdictions also offer an accommodations/tourist tax registration process. For example, the renting of accommodations in the City of Ljubljana, Slovenia requires registration for the City Tourist and Promotion Tax. The number/identifier assigned to you at registration would be the number you would enter here.

Taxable base

Please note that taxable base selection is only available for the % per reservation type of charge. All other types of charge do not allow you to choose a taxable base.

If you host a non-Luxe listing, then the following price items are available as a taxable base for your custom tax rule:

  • Base price

  • Cleaning fee

  • Linen fee

  • Resort fee

  • Management fee

  • Community fee

Multiple taxable bases can be selected for 1 rule. However, taxes will be calculated only if you have set a price for that price item.

Exemptions

A booking may be eligible for an exemption if it meets certain qualifications. What qualifies as an exemption depends on the jurisdiction the listing is in. For example:

  • Jurisdiction Y - a booking greater than X nights isn’t taxable (long-term exemption)

  • Jurisdiction Z - only the first X nights are taxable based on certain conditions (conditional exemption)

The long term exemption field in your custom tax rule is typically used for long-term stays. The conditional exemption field in your custom tax rule is typically used for shorter-term stays.

These fields are optional. Check with your local tax authority if an exemption is applicable in your area.

Extra tax rules/Maximum cap

In certain jurisdictions, there may be a maximum amount of Tourist Tax that can be collected on a booking. The maximum amount is usually a per person per night maximum. This is also known as a maximum cap, or “max cap” rule. For example:

  • Jurisdiction X has a Tourist Tax rate of 3% for the first 7 nights of a booking, and a maximum amount of Tourist Taxes that can apply to a booking of 5 Euros per person per night. If a guest makes a booking for 2 people and 3 nights, the Tourist Tax calculation would be 3% of the nightly rate for the first 7 nights, not to exceed the maximum cap of 30 EUR. In this illustrative example, the conditional exemption is 7.

This field is optional. Check with your local tax authorities if there is a maximum amount of tourist taxes that should be applied in your area.

How tax payouts work

Taxes you've added with this feature are calculated from your payout, but will be paid out separately. Your payout includes your nightly price, cleaning fee, and any other fees you’re collecting for new bookings, minus the host service fee. You’re responsible for providing the tax amount you want to be collected. And, as always, you’re responsible for submitting, paying, and reporting all taxes related to your bookings to the relevant tax authorities. Learn more about your tax reporting and payouts.

How taxes affect your total price

Your total price will increase after adding new taxes. So if you previously included occupancy taxes in your nightly price, you'll have to adjust your nightly price after adding new pass-through taxes to keep your nightly price the same.

For example: Your local occupancy tax rate is 5%. To earn $95 USD per night booked, you charge a nightly price of $100 USD, which includes a $5 USD occupancy tax. When you add the new tax of 5%, the total cost (including taxes) will be $105 USD. If you want to continue to charge a total cost (including taxes) of $100 USD, you'll need to decrease your nightly price to $95 USD.

Info we share with relevant tax authorities

Airbnb may disclose data and other information related to transactions and taxes to the relevant tax authority, such as your name, listing address, applicable business and tax ID numbers, accommodation fees, service fees, gross bookings, tax payout amounts, reservation dates, and transaction dates.

LODGIX INVOICES

On the Lodgix invoice, there will now appear an "Airbnb Collected Tax" or "Airbnb Pass Through Tax" line item.

  1. airbnb_collected_tax_amount_accurate (Airbnb Collected Tax in our invoice) - tax amount paid automatically by Airbnb

  2. pass_through_tax_amount_paid_to_host_accurate (Airbnb Pass Through Tax in our invoice) - tax amount that host received in a payout. The host is responsible for paying this tax.

For guests, there are no difference between these two items. For hosts however, there is a difference. If it's an automatic collection, the money that hosts receive will be equal to a regular host payout (which calculates based on rental charges and other fees that the host specifies) minus the Airbnb service fees. Any Airbnb Collected Tax amount is not included in the total payout.

If it's a manual collection, the total host payout will also include the Airbnb Pass Through Tax in addition to rental charges, cleaning fees, etc.

Also, the reservation can have both manual and automatic occupancy taxes at the same time.


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