Colorado lodging and sales taxes

[Michael491]

We are Denver hosts now registering our room according to the new city Short Term Rental laws. All has gone well so far, despite the overly bureaucratic rules and the general discouragement of business, which we find remarkable. I see that Air BnB now has arrangements to collect taxes directly for those hosting in Colorado Springs, Golden and Steamboat. Does anyone know if talks are in the works to get Denver into the automated system, obviously it would be a great convenience for the many Denver hosts who are trying to be compliant. Failing that, can other Colorado hosts tell me how they physically collect the local Lodging and state Sales taxes? Do you simply add it to the room rate? Or do you try to collect directly from guests upon arrival? 

[James588]

Sorry if this has already been explained above. Didn't see the answer in my skimming.

I just started hosting September 2017, so it is the first time I'd need to pay taxes. And I'm confused. It is December 31, 2017 and I see that taxes are due by January 22, 2018 when I log into https://www.denvergov.org/ebiztax/ I see that Lodger's Tax and OPT Tax are due.

Are we responsible for paying Lodger's Tax? Everything I see on the AirBnB site shows that they collect and remit Occupancy tax. Also, I assume that is the same as Lodger's Tax, just named differently. True? And AirBnB apparently will pay that, which started back at the end of January 2017. It is 10.75% according to the state site.

Do we need to pay the OPT Tax though? It doesn't look like AirBnB is responsibile for this.

If I click on OPT tax is has 3 rows. Row 1 is Business Occupational Privilege Tax. You fill in the number of self-employed individuals (1) times 12. Then multiply by $4. For a total of $48. Not sure if the 2nd row with no description is necessary. And row 3 is for Employee Occupational Privilge Tax. I left that blank. Is this correct and do we need to pay it?

[James588]

After a lot of incomplete information on this subject, I have talked directly to the City and County of Denver and the State of Colorado. Jan 12, 2018.

AirBnB does collect and remit Colorado State taxes so we do not have to worry about paying that.

If you are hosting AirBnB in Denver County, you owe a 10.75% Lodger's Tax on the amount you made during the year. You also owe the OPT (Occupational Privilege Tax) which is $4/month or $48/year. There is also a License Fee. So three things to pay that will be listed when you log into your account at https://www.denvergov.org/ebiztax

They told me that I am set up to pay on an annual basis. But, you may have to pay quarterly if you go over a certain threshold. You'll have to contact the City to confirm what schedule you are on.

[Susan525]

I didn't realize I had to pay by Jan 20th and was waiting for 1099's from Airbnb... Don't even know if they send them... But thought tax return would be filed with everything else in April... Will City/County of Denver work with you on the penalty or not? Thx.

[Rodney30]

I don't like it when my guests are overcharged...

Since taking over the sales and lodging taxes for my rental unit near Grand Lake, CO, AirBnB has been charging my guests too much tax.  The city of Grand Lake has a 5% sales tax, but my rental home is outside the city limits so that tax does not apply to me.  Nonetheless, AirBnB is collecting this 5% tax from my guests.  I contacted AirBnB about three months ago to tell them about this, and gave them the documents they asked for, but so far they have not made any changes.  So I have started notifying my guests that they should ask AirBnB for a refund of that 5%.

Colorado sales, use and lodging taxes are complicated, but there are online services that calculate the correct tax for each address in the state.  Why can't AirBnB use one of those services to get this right?  Otherwise they should give the work back to me.  

[Perstephon0]

I attended the town meeting held at the library a couple weeks back.

AirBnB does collect and remit Colorado State taxes so, no, we dont have to worry about PAYING that, HOWEVER,  We are still required to FILE a sales tax return w the dept of revenue. 

If new to this, to sign up for both, the license and the sales tax account this is a good place to start:

https://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/denver-business-licensing-center/business-licenses/sh...

more Denver city treasury FAQ:

https://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/treasury-division/business-taxes/short-term-rental-ta...

Since airbnb is paying the taxes directly they said just file on an annual basis. 

[Lottie9]

That's super helpful! thank you SO much!

[Leesa6]

Does anyone know if Airbnb covers county lodging tax in the occupancy tax they remit for us? We somehow neglected to pay ours for the last 3 years and now I super confused on what’s covered and what I’m responsible for. 

[Stacy37]

I used to be able to click on a question mark next to taxes and it would show all the taxes being collected for my zip code (it included county).  I can't seem to find that feature now that I'm looking for it