Host different from taxpayer

[J318]

Hi,

Can a host specify a different person as the taxpayer for an account?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@J318 In England if you are a Furnished Holiday Let then the revenues can be directed to any owner of the property 100% if you wish. Without knowing where you are based it is probably best if you take advice from an accountant.

[J318]

Based in the US.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@J318 then you need to ask a CPA for what rules the IRS imposes on earnings from short term rental.

[J318]

My question it not about what the tax rates imposed by IRS are. It is a question about whom AirBnb reports taxes against. If a host puts another person's W-9 under taxpayer info, would the 1099 list the taxpayer's name and SSN as that person? It wouldn't put the host's name in the 1099 right?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@J318 No idea I am afraid other than to suggest that Airbnb might be complicit in tax evasion if they issue 1099s in any name other than that of the host.

[J318]

How? They explicitly ask for W9 and taxpayer info. That reflects the correct person against whom the earnings should be reported. The host is generally the person who hands the keys over to the guest at check-in. That too is getting pretty rare these days with lockboxes/key-dropbox and automated lock/unlock.

The host is only a person who comes in picture in the rare case where something unexpected happens during the check-in process. All other times it is the real taxpayer who takes care of everything running smoothly.

[Helen3]

Why don't you ask your accountant this is an international community and we won't necessarily understand how tax etc works in the US @J318 

[J318]

US is part of an international community 😀

But I agree that people outside of US would not be knowledgeable on US tax laws.

My tax accountant has no control over what AirBnb does. I just want to know what AirBnb in the US does. Can someone from Airbnb answer this?

[Bhumika · Accepted solution]

Hi @J318 ,

I found some resources related to US Tax information which I thought you could explore to get more info related to your query :

👉Changing US taxpayer information 

👉How to complete Form W-9 

👉 More resources 

I hope the above articles are helpful to explore US tax related information. 

Can’t find what you’re searching for? start a conversation

[Helen744]

@J318 We are all hosts here but most taxes operate on a similar system as to whose income ,and therefore taxable, money is. If you work in a shop and are paid a wage then your taxable money is your wage ,you are not taxed on  the shops income. Same , if the money paid by guests is going into someone elses bank directly and the 'supposed host' or caretaker or employee does all the work but recieves a wage for that work then they are not liable for the income.It would be wise in the case of a husband and wife team to have money payable, from Airbnb guests , go into the persons account who generally earns the least , but your lovely down town tax agent will tell you all about it . Make an appointment , with the local tax agent as this is neither Airbnb CS or the tax advice line  The person receiving the wage is the co host. The person recieving the Airbnb money into an account is the host.  ... H

[Helen744]

J318 I think the issue for you is simply whose name the account is in for recievable monies. Any state taxes not charged at point of sale would be part of personal tax ,but if money is not directly going in to your bank account the it is not your income. If the host is a separately paid employee then they are not in fact the host but the co host.... H

[Helen744]

@J318 It seems many people have a different interpretation of host and co host , it is worth keeping this issue very clear because of the attached payment details. Hosts are generally the owners in smaller Airbnbs and know very clearly whose income monies are. Houses can be owned by more than one person and often are , so that means two or three or even more 'hosts ' for the purpose of income , but one bank account , probably a shared account.The term 'host ' on the dashboard and in 'account details ' as far as Airbnb are concerned can only be one person , although the 'co host' may take care of most day to day running of almost everything, or split the hosting with the host ,or just have minor backup duties , such as sometimes checking people in or doing turnover. Its relatively flexible but not completely .... H