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. 

[Kathleen126]

Thanks John47 for all your research and information.  The outcome of this issue directly impacts the future of our business. I look forward to any and all updates.

[Johanna270]

Airbnb had collected the tax for me 6% sales tax plus 5% occupancy but has not remitted it. I did file every month for the amount that I earned but thought that AirBNb would then remit the amount collected to MassConnect. This has not happened. How do you know they remit to the state what is owed?  Or where should I remit from my account that AirBNB kept but did not remit yet. Is it in Hosting tools?  I put my rooms in and how much they earn each month.  If you know how can I add the additional 3% community impact fee for AirBnb to collect and remit monthly?

[John47]

@Johanna270 
Ummm....I think you've made some major mistakes here unfortunately IF I read your post correctly.
Because - ANY rent collected via Airbnb is not to be reported via Mass Connect by host for STR tax purposes! Only rent that you collect directly from guest is to be included. If Airbnb hasn't remitted proper amts for you, that's not your responsibility, ok?  And - you won't know when/if Airbnb has remitted it correctly but it's not your problem. Never has been; never will be as the law is written.
The CIF is another thing that Airbnb is totally responsible for IF rental was done via them. They are having serious issue implementing some of this and the DOR knows about it. 

[Joan310]

Thanks.  So you said, "If Airbnb hasn't remitted proper amts for you, that's not your responsibility, ok?  And - you won't know when/if Airbnb has remitted it correctly but it's not your problem. Never has been; never will be as the law is written.",   SO, does that mean whenever I go to my Mass Tax Connect site I will see all the months since July that Airbnb has collected tax and that it will never show that they've paid it and that's the way it will continue to be?  (Looking like they've never been filed).

[John47]

@Joan310 
YUP! That's 100% correct due to how Airbnb is handling it.  Since they were the ones who collected the rent/tax from guest, they are reporting and remitting it as intermediary (grouped by town, I would hope/assume)  and not breaking it down into individual host accounts.

[John785]

Hi! Now that airbnb is up and running and we have entered our certificate numbers, do we still have to file a $0 return on the masstax website? I am confused as to what to do now that airbnb is up and running. I was told before this to file online $0. Please let me know if you have heard anything about what to do now! thanks!

[John47]

@John785 
It's MY understanding (NOT official advice, obviously) that you can always file a $0 return for any months when you had NO direct/private rentals but you're also not required to file for those months.
If ALL your rentals came via Airbnb or other intermediary, you tax liability is zero, ok?

[Carolyn421]

I'm trying to file returns on the Mass Tax Connect, because the site is saying I need to file them.  Based on what I am gathering on this board, I should just file $0 returns because the tax was already paid by AirBnB.  Why the hell doesn't AirBnB and/or Mass Tax Connect jujst say so?  I screwed up by filing one month's return with the revenue data from AirBnB and now Mass Tax COnnect wants to collect money from me.  I assumed that there was some credit that was going to show up under my tax ID.  Because AirBnB seemed to indicate that the taxes were being collected "on my behalf" and they have my tax ID and my ROC certificate number.  So I assumed that AirBnB was submitting them under that certificate number.

I asked AirBnB about this and was told that they actually submit one giant return for all of Massachusetts.  The taxes paid for my particular rental is not being credited to my tax ID.  They just pay it in one big indistinguishable lump.

So...it seems that I should only be reporting room revenues NOT from AirBnB.   Why the hell doesn't AirBnB and/or Massachusetts just say that.   Does anyone know if there is a way to "undo" a return that was submitted on Mass Tax COnnect.

[John47]

@Carolyn421 
Welcome to the discussion here - which - I do wish you'd read/participated in (and/or other similar ones) a few months ago because it's been quite well known here that Airbnb is totally responsible for any tax for deals/payments made using their site. Ok, so I agree that possibly Airbnb hasn't been all that clear in explaining it but MassDOR has been reasonably good in describing it, I think. Now I'm not saying it's ideal but just by reading the Session 337 law over a year ago, that says how it was intended to work.
Yes, you're correct - only NON Airbnb rents are what you need to deal with and report/remit.
As to undoing your error, i would contact MassDOR and possibly Jen DeSimone at

desimonej@dor.state.ma.us
She's been quite helpful to me in answering questions and resolving issues -and- she's been in charge of implementing it at DOR.

[Carolyn585]

JOhn,

I reached out to both Airbnb and MassDOR multiple times over multiple issues with the exact mechanics of this.  Yes, it would have been helpful to have found this community board site.  But not sure why I should have to get answers from other owners when a reasonably detailed set of instructions would have answered my questions.  

I did read the law and my questions were not around who is responsible for collecting the taxes.  My questions all emerged on implementation, not the language of the law.  The websites, the forms, the tools.  Airbnb, or Mass DOR, could have given a step by step (not the videos on MAss DOR, those were helpful to a degree but were more general and did not cover my questions).

Only after I got my ROC certificate did I learn that I have to file returns. So I tried to comply.  I file returns with the info requested:  rental revenues.  Nowhere on the return is a line that says "tax already paid" or anything like that. It also does not say "only report revenues not earned from Airbnb".  

Another example....my properties are in a timeshare (I'm managing the rentals for all owners...any given owner only rents the week or two that they own, but since we organize the rentals at the condo level, it is above the threshold of weeks set in the law).  The law says we are exempt, but I could not figure out how to get Airbnb to recognize that and not collect taxes and not require us to have a certificate (which then requires returns to be filed)  I contacted Airbnb on 4-5 different occasions and never got to speak to anyone other than the "FAQ readers" who read back to me information I already know from reading their FAQs and then answer questions I did not ask (the ones they have the pre-packaged answers for).  I call Mass DOR and they shrug and tell me I don't have to pay the taxes, I should work it out with Airbnb.  Airbnb finally gets someone to respond to me who has a clue and they tell me, well, we don't have a check box to identify you as a timeshare so you can be exempt, so just send a suggestion to our suggestion box and maybe we will have that someday.  I give up at that point.  It cost me more in my labor hours to try to resolve this issue then it is worth to be exempt.

AirBnB knows who the MA owners are.  They could send emails to those owners with better explanations.  I could help them with crafting those emails, as an owner who has been confused by all the craziness and changes, if they would like to pay me a consulting fee.  Their support is abysmal.  

[Jane3930]

Agreed ( SRT in Berkshires ) Getting zero assistance from Airbnb on this issue

[John47]

@Carolyn585 
I can understand your frustration and i think MassDOR is just as frustrated with Airbnb!
And agree that the Airbnb support is totally lacking as many have said.
I had learned back in July at the latest that having a certificate does not require a return to be filed IF all the rentals came via intermediary like Airbnb, which makes sense because as they collected the tax so how would a host report/remit it?

Now - I believe you can file an amended return to undo the incorrect one.

Also, Airbnb has yet (AFAIK) to properly handle the 'b&B home' category which is also exempt.