Airbnb Tax Collection, NYC

[Jane2808]

A recent message from Airbnb says that it will collect sales tax for reservations made after March 15.  I assume I have to collect for the reservations already booked (the new law says it is effective as of March 1) and that is substantial. But what IS that tax? I have an email from the Dept. of Finance from last year saying I did not have to collect the hotel unit tax for renting "a room." I have attempted to book to see what the tax would be, but nothing comes up in what the guest pays. Anyone have insight on this? And the AIrbnb Support call center is useless on tax information.

[Karen114]

@Jane2808  You will need to reach out to the Dept of Finance to get clarification on that.  

Here's a link to the contact page. https://www.nyc.gov/site/finance/about/contact-us.page# 

[Jane2808]

I spent hours and hours trying to get answers. You cannot get human beings on the phone, beyond a call center.

[Alessandro2064]

You need to be asking these questions to your accountant who knows your situation and local tax law.

[Elisa]

Hi @Jane2808 😊, 

Thank you so much for asking this question here!

Have you found an answer in the meantime? 

I'm tagging a few hosts from New York to see if they know anything about your situation: @Jonathan2534, @Samantha1447, @Carlos300, @Jose6361, @Trevor-And-Nancy0, @Val-andYuko0, @Kirk19, @Candysue0 and @Aron1902.

Thank you in advance, everyone!

Warm regards 🌻,

[Jane2808 · Accepted solution]

I have found the answer, @Elisa . The message sent by Airbnb about the new taxing was extremely misleading. It left the impression that it was only taxing reservations made after March 15, leading to the impression, since the law  went into effect March 1, that the host was responsible for collecting the taxes for the confirmed 34 bookings. This ate up time and caused anxiety. After much effort and misinformatino, support admitted, in writing, that Airbnb was collecting tax as of March 1 for all bookings, we just would not see it on the website until March 15. Ridiculous phrasing but typically bad.