Airbnb allows illegal STR to continue in HI

[Alex1404]

I am operating a legal short term rental and pay 3 types of taxes: TAT, OTAT and GET in Hawaii. When I created my Airbnb I wasn’t able to proceed without adding tax info to my listing. However, there are many listings in my area that are not legal short term Airbnbs but they are allowed to operate and don’t display any tax info. 

I reached out to Airbnb and got this:

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How is that possible that Airbnb is ok with violating STR rules and tax rules and wants owners to deal with that?

Unbelievable 🤷‍♂️

** **[Content removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines- Please note that it is not allowed to share Airbnb private conversations]

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Alex1404 There is another thread where a host in Texas (I think) has listings at $10/night and taxes at $300/night. This is clearly to avoid the Airbnb service fees that do not apply to taxes. Whilst not immediately relevant to your situation it may cause Airbnb to rethink its stance on how hosts represent taxes!

By the way you will need to precis what Airbnb said re your situation as direct quotes of private conversations are not allowed (especially when they show Airbnb in a bad light)!

[Alex1404]

Thank you for your response @Mike-And-Jane0 

Airbnb representative basically told me that any tax violations are between me and the other host that is violating these rules and I need to contact this host directly revealing my personal data. They don't care about violating these rules themselves in the state of Hawaii and have no consequences for that. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Alex1404 Actually I think the issue is between the host and the Hawaiian tax authorities. Just because the host has not called out the tax separately they should still be liable for it and have to pay it.