New fee structure

[Jane3076]

Could someone out there please help me? I’m really confused by this new fee structure. I’m in Australia and Airbnb’s have been copping a beating here with all sorts of restrictions (taxes and restrictions on how many days per year you can do short term rentals) not to mention the fuel prices going through the roof is deterring travelling. 
I’ve been a super host for 6 years and my rating is 4.96 and I had been booked out 70% of the time. That has severely dropped (it is winter here but that has affected me much in the past years). I fear this fee structure change is going to be the straw that broke this camels back. 
I’m going to attach a photo of a booking I have coming up- could somebody please show me how that will appear after the changes please? I have read lots of posts but I’m still confused. There’s so many differences depending on what country you’re in. Is the new 15.5% applied to the cleaning fee and the tax? Thankyou in advance

 

[Elaine701]

@Jane3076 

As a simplified explanation, the important figure is the top figure, "guest paid". $566.05. This is the current price of your offering including your $140 per night, plus all taxes, fees, and extras (e.g., cleaning fee).

When you switch over, that price will be the same or very similar. 

The difference will be that the "guest service fee" will move to your payout section, and "host service fee (3.0% + VAT)" will be replaced by 15.5% -  the guest will no longer be paying it separately. 

You should therefore receive about the same payout. 

I can't speak for Australia and what additional taxation they might impose, but that's basically how it works in most jurisdictions around the world. 

I hope that helps

[Shelley159]

Hi @Jane3076 

I replied with my estimate on your other post yesterday:

Below is an indication of more or less what your screenshot will look like after the change to the single fee structure. Please note that I've had to make some assumptions to do it, so it won't be 100% the same. It's just to give you an illustration of what to expect.

I've assumed the tax you refer to is the 7.5% guest tax in the state of Victoria, and I've taken the calculation method from your screenshot.

If you're specifically looking to confirm the above with other Australian hosts, it may be good to ask in your local host club. However, there seems to be quite a bit of misinformation out there, with many hosts forgetting about the guest portion of the split fee and simply assuming it's an increase from 3% to 15.5%. So if you do ask in your local club, try to get someone who's already changed to the single fee to send you a screenshot similar to yours. They should then also paste a similar booking from before they changed so that you can see the overall change is minimal.

[Richard3335]

@Shelly159: wondering if your calculations allow for 10% GST that AirBnb will charge on top of the 15.5% host fee ?

@Joan3076: not sure what State your property is in. Apart from 10% GST, do you have any other Govt levied fees or charges to pay? Would need to know this in order to calculate what your new daily rate should be assuming you were aiming to receive. Also, not that the new Single Host Fee applies to ALL fees and charges you configure, such as cleaning, and 15.5% plus GST will be charged on these too.

[Richard3335]

Apologies for typo's in that last sentence. Should say:

Would need to know this in order to calculate what your new daily rate should be assuming you were aiming to receive similar/same payout. Also, note that the new Single Host Fee applies to ALL fees and charges you configure, such as cleaning, and 15.5% plus GST will be charged on these too.

[Shelley159]

Thank you @Richard3335 !

Here's the calculation including the 10% GST:

The service fee above in both cases is calculated on the total, including the cleaning fee.

The service fee has always been applied to all fees (pets, extra guests, etc., otherwise hosts could simply move charges around to avoid the service fee).

[Richard3335]

Working backwards, if Guest pays $566.23 then Host Service Fee will be 15.5% of what the Guest paid plus 10% GST of that fee. I.e.

$566.23 x 15.5% = $87.77

$87.77 x 10% = $8.78

$87.77 plus $8.78 = $96.55

Have I miscalculated, as your calcs say Host Service Fee should be $89.81 ?

[Shelley159]

@Richard3335 In the screenshot of the split fee, the host service fee is

3% + 10% GST = 3.3% of 450, giving 14.85

The new fee was calculated as

15.5% + 10% GST = 17.05%, of 526.73, giving 89.81

Your last calculation based on 566.23 charges the host service fee on the guest total, which includes (what I think is) the 7.5% guest tax in the state of Victoria. 

I didn't calculate the service fee on the state tax, because of how the guest portion of the split fee is calculated:

Guests pay a service fee ranging from 14.1% to 16.5% of the booking subtotal (the booking subtotal includes the nightly price and any additional fees charged by the host, but excludes the guest service fee and taxes).

This phrasing is not repeated under the single fee in the help article, but one would assume it should stay the same. As I mentioned there are a number of assumptions in my calculations (like this one), but hopefully it gives some idea of what to expect.

Service fees: https://www.airbnb.co.za/help/article/1857

State of Victoria tax: https://www.airbnb.com.au/help/article/3819

[Richard3335]

Ah missed that, thanks @Shelley159. In that case, wondering if AirBnb will itemise tax components individually ....would sure help us to understand how they're working this.