Massachusetts New Guest Tax???

[Ken-and-Kathleen0]

AirBnB collects and remits taxes in 40+ states, PR and the US Virgin Islands, but for some reason, the tax they were a proponent of in Massachusetts is not even mentioned.

There have been no updates by AirBnB on how they are going to help their hosts handle this tax which according to the State information includes all fees cleaning, and service (AirBnB Service Fee?) and the Security Deposit.

The bulk of Massachusetts AirBnB revenue in Massachusetts would have to come from Summer Rentals in places like the Cape, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and the Berkshires. 

Without some sort of resolution, or at least notice from AirBnB we're faced with either eating the tax, reporting costs, etc. or just cancelling all of our summer reservations. 

[Ellen414]

Lo and behold... I got a letter with a C#!!!

thanks for your attentiveness and help. I guess it was a two step process. I am still in the game!

[Cody64]

John, I have a 2 family in Quincy, Ma and I Airbnb out the 1st floor year round.  I do serve breakfast and I want to know is that exempt?  I also host 5 other listings that I don't own.  I have a Realty Management LLC already setup back a few months ago.  Do I still register as a new user?

[John47]

@Cody64 
Just now seeing your post as you didn't tag me via the @ user.
I don't feel qualified to answer that so I would suggest you email Jen Desimone at DOR (her contact info desimonej@dor.state.ma.us) and give her the listing URL so she/they can give you a definite answer. 
Personally, I would suspect that it may not be exempt given the type of unit which is much more than 1-3 rooms in owner occupied home.
And registering on MA Tax Connect isn't a bad thing as that allows you the option of renting directly/privately if you're not exempt.

[ChrisandDave0]

Thank you this is helpful. Bottom line... ABNB is demonstrating no desire to help. So, to be fair to renters, it will need to be called out by owner in listing so renter knows in advance. Owner will have to make 1:1 collection of the tax prior to rent or when guest arrives.  This sound about right? Looking for how to deal with this in reasonable practical way and avoid eating the cost.

[Amy-and-Antony0]

I just got off the phone with them again and yes, I believe the current answer is that we, the renters have to tell each and every guest who is booked starting July 1 forward that they need to write a check, pay cash or use Venmo, Square, etc. to pay for the tax. The state tax is 5.7%. We plan on opening a savings account and putting it all in that account so it is separate from all other accounts. That way when the state finally figures out how they want to collect the money from us we will have it all sitting and available for them and not co-mingled with anything else. 

And if this doesn't change we will likely be leaving Air bnb soon too. It's too much of a hassle to talk to each person constantly about having to bring money or checks or whatever to pay for tax.

[John47]

@Amy-and-Antony0
You as host are NOT responsible for taxes on any Airbnb rental, THEY are.

In email from Jennifer DeSimone (MA DOR), she wrote: "The intermediary ultimately are the ones responsible for the taxes collected and reported, not the hosts. I will let our legal folks know about this and see about reaching out to Airbnb but again. This is probably going to take some time for everyone to settle in."

In response to my final point on email to her regarding incorrect tax handling, where I wrote:
"Hopefully this type of thing won't affect us because if they are supposed to charge tax and don't, us as hosts don't want to be held responsible for their mistakes!"

[Kevin1307]

John, your insight was most helpfull. I am currently going through the same ordeal. I paid the state the taxes they requested last month and now this month found out airbnb already paid them. So now I want proof and they cant provide it. Any chance you would be willing to forward me a copy of the email you received stating they were responsible for collecting and paying it so I don't have to bang my head against a wall when I call the DOR next.

kricci13@gmail.com

[John47]

@Kevin1307 
You're welcome! I've been trying my best to help others here!
I'll be forwarding that email with the quote above soon but replying here first.
I don't understand why people even attempted to file taxes that were due on Airbnb rentals because (as I know it) only via Special Offers or getting the info from guest, you wouldn't know the booking fees that guest paid to ABB and on which, taxes are also due. So without that fee data, your filing would be incorrect.

[Marylou7]

Hi John. Can you please forward to me a copy of the email from Jennifer DeSimore? Airbnb support team claims that I’m responsible for paying the state taxes as a host since July 2019 but, there wasn’t and still are not any tab, feature or section in my account do apply the corresponding taxes for all those months. I told them that I called IRS and I was informed that they are responsible, not me. However, they continue to insist that IRS is wrong. I need to send this email to Airbnb as an evidence against their denial. Thank you. 

[John47]

@Marylou7 
Just seeing your post now at around 3am...I could forward you the email that I received but a few things first:
1) It's DeSimone (not 'r' at end)
2) Airbnb is clearly responsible for paying any MA STR tax since July for rentals made via them. I am presuming you didn't do any directly with guests? Because those would be your responsibility.
3) You wrote "IRS" - I presume you meant "MA DOR", right?
4) I would need an email addr for you so send that via PM here (or contact me directly - I'm easy to find on web as have my own site)

[Marylou7]

Hi John. Thank you for getting back to me. Yes, I meant MR DOR and did not collect any taxes from any of my guests. This is my email address, hypnotikclothing@gmail.com. Please forward the email you received from DeSimone. Thanks again 🙂

[Sarah977]

@Marylou7  Just a heads-up. Personal info like email addresses and phone numbers in posts here will get picked up by the algorithms and blocked. If you want to exchange personal info with another host here, the way to do it is to send them a personal message (click on their profile photo, then "Send message". You then find those messages by clicking on the little envelope symbol on the top bar here. When you get a response, that little envelope will appear as red.

Also, if you are responding to or asking a question of a specific poster on the forum, you should tag them so they receive a notification, otherwise they may never know or notice. Just click on the @ symbol, then on the posters name in the drop-down box. If their name doesn't appear there, start typing it in after the @ and it should appear in a subsequent drop-down box.

[Donna597]

I just rented an airbnb in S Carolina and the tax was listed when I booked the rental. Why is mass being treated differently?

[Bruce25]

Please submit your comments to :

www.airbnb.com/help/feedback

Here is my comment:

It is unacceptable that you are not more proactive in notifying and supporting renters and hosts of the 2019 Massachusetts short term rental tax. This has been on the books for 5 months. I am to pay 14.45%. I want AirBnB to collect this tax and either pay it to Mass or send it to me. Having to ask for the tax from the guest is unacceptable. I have to do 2 transactions???? One of the 2 reasons I use AirBnB, Easy payment and accounting has been lost. At a minimum allowing a Municipal Tax category similar to 'Community fees' makes sense. You've made 10s of thousands of $$ from my listings how about fixing this? There is going to be lots of angry renters/hosts in Mass.

In Summary :
-- We need you to collect the tax
-- If you don't 'have an agreement with MA' to direct payt Then at least :
------ let us set the percentage
-------remit to the host and and we will make the tax payments.

[Richard935]

At the very least, AIRBNB needs to add a section under Local laws to enable the owner to add the 14.45% tax(for Mass and Ptown) to their rental pricing. We're fast approaching summer and this will be an issue. While my renters already are aware of the tax, it's uncomfortable to ask this upfront at check in