HelloAny hosts out there interested in swaping stays?
Latest reply
HelloAny hosts out there interested in swaping stays?
Latest reply
Has anyone else been delisted because it is saying that you have to comply with the county’s minimum stay at 180 days? It hit me a few days ago.
I am getting NO HELP from Airbnb, and I have no idea what is going on.
The county says, with a Tourist Development Tax number, I can book 2 days to 180 days max., not minimum. Airbnb forwards it to some “escalation” office that will only speak to you by email, and is in no rush to get a hold of you. I’m on day three of calling.
Anyone experiencing this problem?
I went down to the County Office. They (again) wanted to do the Catch-22 that they don’t get you activated with Airbnb. Airbnb does. I showed them the letter that said that someone has to put you on the active list. I said that there has to be someone there that they are talking to. The kind lady at the front, this time, finally went to the back, and they agreed to look at my information. They sent a note off to the liason who works with Airbnb for that “active” list to include my listing on the “reactivated list.”
Airbnb will not reactivate you without it, I am told.
The county tells me that they will do nothing with your city BTR, just their County LBTR
There is a loophole, because the County SHOULD require a County LBTR when you get your TDT number. They do not. As a result, you can easily miss getting one. The County can fine you, for not having an LBTR. They can’t shut you down, though. Yet they don’t seem to run the TDT numbers, and see who is missing the LBTR. You can be shut down for not having your City BTR in order. Yet the county TDT office does not record them.
What to do:
Ask for an Airbnb tax department case manager;
If you do not have an LBTR, go to the Tourist Development Tax office on the third floor of the West Palm Beach office. Pay for one.
Make sure that your Tourist Development Tax (TDT) account is active, and that you are paying your taxes (Airbnb DOES NOT PAY YOUR TDT). Want to collect the 6% County Tax, so it doesn’t come out of your pocket? Read the thread here on how to cover the TDT by setting your Community Fee correctly. Make sure that your TDT taxes are paid and current.
If you have a County LBTR, is it expired/lapsed? Renew. If it’s not, that’s a total head-scratcher as to how you got put on the Inactive List by Palm Beach County. Perhaps the TDT office can explain.
Once all of your numbers are active, and correct, bring your notepad, or laptop, or phone, as you’ll have to show the TDT office that you’ve updated with the current numbers on your airbnb listing. The correct form, in your listing’s LICENSES AREA is: [TDT NUMBER],[LBTR Number] Save the changes, if any.
You will also need your Airbnb host listing number.
Ask the Tourist Development Tax agent to take your active LBTR, TDT, and Airbnb number, and give them to the Tax Assessors Office representative who verifies licenses with the Actives List, to put you on the “REACTIVATED LIST.”
It can then take 3-5 more days for the County to publish one, and up to 14 days to get Airbnb to do the same.
Yes, Ms. Gannon should require them to issue an LBTR with the TDT, if you do not already have one. Yesm, Airbnb is treating the LBTR number as the primary thing, and will not budge unless you’re on that active list.
Yes, this is totally unclear, on both ends.
Yes, this is total madness.
Yes, we are stuck in the middle.
Yes, we are losing money every day over a paper-pissing contest.
No, Airbnb makes no effort to explain this clearly.
Yes, it’s extremely frustrating.
Good luck
Hi. I went to Tax Office today, paid for the LBTR that I didn’t know I needed. I had everything else. I resubmitted info on reactivation link form. Having said this, it still can take up to 14 days or longer?
Unfortunately. Also go to your page, both on the HTML and web versions, and make sure that your license numbers are accurate, as well as your address, otherwise it will still all be messed up.
Thank you so much for your 2/25 post. I have both TDT’s and one LBTR and one BTR but no LBTR for the second one. Hopefully they will do something with the great directions you gave. I was pulling out my hair the last few days. 🙄
37 days later, I am back on. Huzzah! The Tax Collector’s Airbnb liaison wrote a letter to Airbnb on my behalf, pointing out that they can’t put someone on the “reactivated” list if I just got my LBTR, and that I had bought an LBTR, and that I was valid, and active.
The counties should tell you to get an LBTR with your TDT, but it’s NOT a legal requirement. A loophole in the system. Airbnb should tell you that they need an LBTR, not a BTR, along with the TDT. They do not.
ALSO, be aware that they DO NOT collect the 6% tax for Palm Beach County. Search Palm Beach County here to find out how to pay that, so you don’t get fined.
Congratulations! Thank you for the info.I just got this from the county. Hopefully they’ll write a letter for me too
I too was banned from short terms rentals and placed on 180 minimum rentals even though all my licenses are to date and accurate and listed on my listing, airbnb knows it is not my fault and yet they do nothing to fix it, no one assigned to my ticket after 4 days and no answers. Very frustrating and wondering if anyone found a solution to this insane problem that is not my fault. I have been totally shut down with my calendars blocked out for 6 months incorrectly.
Thank you @Brian1613 and everyone else on this forum! I am just beginning my hosting application process with Airbnb in Palm Beach county and this information is extremely helpful as I try to navigate the very confusing and contradicting information available online and through the PBC tax office and Airbnb.