Seattle Taxes

[Justin2431]

I am a new Seattle Airbnb host and trying to figure out how to navigate taxes. Are there any experienced Seattle hosts I could connect with to ask a few questions? Thank you.

[Paula]

Hello @Justin2431, welcome to the community! 😊

I’m reaching out to a few fellow hosts in Seattle to see if they’d be happy to share some insights with you: @Inger273 @Marty321 @Dana1757 and @Naureen-and-Shehryar0.

In the meantime, you might find this article helpful: Occupancy Tax Collection and Remittance by Airbnb in Washington.

Regards,

[Dana1757]

@Paula @Justin2431 I live in Seattle, but my rental is in Mason county.  Happy to help with any questions though.

[Justin2431]

Thank you @Paula and @Dana1757 !

Based on what I've found so far, I'm aware of three layers of taxes: City of Seattle, Washington State, and Federal.

For WA State, I spoke to the DOR and confirmed that, with the tax Airbnb remits along with the small business credit, I end up with a $0 balance on my quarterly excise tax return. 

When it comes to the City of Seattle layer, I'm unclear since I haven't been able to get in contact with anyone from their office. My question is around whether City of Seattle is similar to the state layer, where Airbnb remits everything and I end up with a $0 balance (or do I even need to file with the City of Seattle)?

I see you are based in Seattle, but host in Mason County, so I realize you may not have any information on Seattle taxes. Could you confirm that what I found out about the state layer sounds correct? 

[Dana1757]

@Justin2431 Sorry for the late reply.  You should be able to take care of all your quarterly taxes through the DOR regardless of what county you are in.  You select the county so it knows what taxes to remit.  Airbnb takes care of collecting all necessary taxes for state and city lodging, so you should always come up zero on your quarterly taxes.  Other OTA’s have different rules, so it is best to see what they collect, but Airbnb makes it simple.