Austin hosts: Did you receive AirBnB's tax-collection msg?

[Dede0]

A couple of weeks ago, AirBnB sent a message to all Texas hosts saying that "For reservations booked in Texas State on or after May 01, 2017, guests will see a charge for the occupancy tax." They also said "If you’ve already been collecting the occupancy taxes for Airbnb guests, you should not do so after May 01, 2017."

Sounds straighforward, but it's actually ambiguous as stated. It's not clear whether they'll collect from every guest who stays after May 1 (including people who booked *before* May 1) or only from bookings that are initiated after May 1.

In the first case, we'll effectively be over-charging the guests who had booked May dates in advance. (We already have the state tax "built in" to our rates, and we pay the State quarterly.) That's not a huge issue, but it may surprise those guests if AirBnB suddenly adds a new charge to their existing bill.

In the second case, where AirBnB only handles the tax for bookings that are initiated after May 1, then that means we have to pay the tax for guests with pre-existing bookings. Which means some, but not all, of our guests in May, June, July and even October and November. Keeping track of which bookings we have to pay the taxes for versus which AirBnB will handle is going to be a pain.

What I'm wondering is has anyone gotten any clarification from AirBnB?

[Katherine53]

See other thread on the topic of AirBNB collecting Texas State taxes for us - lots of useful info from other hosts.

[Marguerete0]

Same question here.  We do not see any change in the information that Airbnb is providing about reservations made after May 1 - just the same 3% booking fee.

How will Airbnb remit the 6% they plan to collect on our behalf?  What happens about the remainder of the tax liability - the 2% state sales & use tax premium that comes from operating in Austin, and the 8% Travis County hotel tax?

Thanks for help from the community.

[Leslie41]

I am in Comal County (just north of San Antonio).  My accountant is about to have a heart attack over this.  Was the letter only for Austin Host?  I hate to go through what it is going to take/cost to set this up if Airbnb is going to do this.  

Any advice?

Leslie

The Texas Bell Glamping

[Dede0]

@Leslie41 You should've received a message from AirBnB in your account's Inbox. You should have been notified via your account's "dashboard". Check there.

The wording of the message stated that the new policy applied to all listings within Texas, not just Austin or elsewhere.

By the way, there's a simple way to tell if AirBnB has started collecting the tax (from guests, not from you) for your listing. See the last couple of sentences in my reply to @Marguerete0, elsewhere in this conversation.

[Dede0]

@Marguerete0 A few responses to different details in your message...

First, I don't think we, as hosts, will see, in our side of the transaction, the added amount that AirBnB tacks on to the guest's bill. We'll continue to just see what the guest pays minus our standard 3%. (There is a sneaky way to see the rest of the guest's side, as I'll describe at the end of this reply.)

Second, in Austin, you should be paying the city a straight 9% tax (covers the entire amount due the city), and not any add'l 2% sales tax or use tax premium. In other words, up until now, you should've been filing once per quarter with the city (for a flat 9%) and once per quarter with the state (for a flat 6%). If you live in Travis County but NOT within the Austin city limits, then I have no idea what your amounts should've been.

As far as how AirBnB will remit the 6% to the state, my reading of what AirBnB sent us is that they'll be charging the guest an added 6% and passing it, in our name, to the state.

Interestingly now, if you set up a Special Offer to a guest (whether or not you actually submit it), you can see that AirBnB is tacking on that 6% even though they don't break it out (to the host's view) as a tax charge. How can you tell that? Well, when you made a special offer in the past, the amount AirBnB charged the guest over the total of your offer was about 12% Now it's about 18%.

[Kelly149]

@Marguerete0 to reiterate. Travis County has no hotel tax. City of Austin is 9%. State of Texas hotel tax is 6%. ABB will collect and remit the 6% -- nothing else. 

You still need to roll anything you owe beyond the state HOT into your rate or have guests pay thru resolution center

[Lorie4]

What is the rate airbnb is charging for occupancy tax? Do they bill on the guest's total charge? The San Antonio rate that airbnb charges appears to be very low.  Will this come back on the host if airbnb is charging too little?  We have been charging 16.75% on the total bill.  I hate that it is so high.  However, this number comes from the city's website and covers city, county, state and convention center taxes.  I was so happy when airbnb said they would be collecting this fee, really nice not to have to ask folks for this money. Should I just not concern myself with this one?  Thanks

[Dede0]

@Lorie4 Did you receive the message from AirBnB about them starting to collect and pay the Texas state tax? As it explained, that's the ONLY tax they're collecting and remitting for you -- the 6% state "hotel" tax. They're not going to deal with local taxes at this time. So, if you've been including the 6% state tax in that percentage you've been requesting from guests, you should drop your amount by 6%.