Hosts in Texas need to CANCEL their Tax ID account with the Comptroller

[Dede0]

When AirBnB began collecting and remitting the Texas state hotel tax on behalf of hosts (who'd previously had to pay quarterly), they neglected to mention that hosts should cancel their existing Tax account ID with the State. I'm sure some hosts realized that they might want to do that, but I'm betting that the vast majority didn't realize that. Which means that this week, thousands of hosts in Texas received a notice from the Comptroller, billing the hosts for estimated taxes, plus 10% interest, plus a late-payment fee. Which, I'm sure, has led to thousands and thousands of calls to the Comptroller, where *some* employees know what the issue is but where others don't. It took us multiple calls to find someone who understood the situation and could fix it for us.

Thanks, AirBnB!

Anyway, if you host in Texas and haven't cancelled the Tax account for your listing, you definitely need to do that.

[Kelly149]

@Dede0 It would only work to cancel your account if you do not list thru any other platform and are certain you never will. I’m not willing to put all my eggs in that basket, so I’m keeping my account open. 

I send in my taxes from HomeAway reservations and I guess if I had a period where there were no rentals but abb then I would send in the form with the No Tax Due notation. 

[Dede0]

@Kelly149 -- Yes, maybe I should've written "MAY need to...", but I decided to make it more of an eye-catcher to increase the likelihood that hosts in Texas would read it. I assumed that people who wouldn't need to close their Comptroller account would know that they wouldn't. Obviously if one is listing with more than just AirBnB, one might need to continue paying some of the tax manually.

In addition, even people who are currently listed only on AirBnB might want to keep their account open, in case they decide to add another listing service in the future. If one does decided to keep their account open, though, they should be aware that they still need to file quarterly, but just to claim ZERO taxable income. Otherwise, the Comptroller takes the non-filing as being delinquent and will estimate (and charge) the taxes owed, plus interest, plus penalties.

My larger point was to let the thousands of hosts who likely received the delinquent payment letter this week know why they'd received it and what to do to correct it. The Comptroller is now quite aware of the issue (probably because they've been flooded with questions), and they're happy to close the account and cancel the bills. (I'm sure they're as thrilled with AirBnB's non-mention of the need to close out accounts as the hosts are. Thanks again, AirBnB! You've caused a lot of unnecessary worry and wasted a LOT of everyone's time.) ((I love having AirBnB as an option and I love the money we generate through their service, but they are terrible at the one small, isolated business that they're in. What I mean by that is imagine if airlines flew their planes as poorly as AirBnB runs its services, its website, and its app. I'm not talking about lost luggage or overbooked flights. I'm talking about getting planes up in the air, flying around the world, and landing at proper destinations without killing or injuring large numbers of their passengers. AirBnB is good, but they could be SO much better with relatively little effort and some better coding.))

As for listing on multiple services, I like having that option, but since we stay 95-100% booked using only AirBnB, we've never had that experience.

[KurtandPhai0]

Hello,

My name is Phai. I am new to airbnb, Texas, and the US.  I started airbnb last April when I have a few bookings before airbnb started collecting 6% tax.  I have just moved to the States and I have zero experience with taxing.  As far as I have researched, I need to have Tax ID account in order to pay 6% tax quarterly.  I also have my property listed on other websites, so I will definitely need ID account.  I went to Comptroller and I could not do anything without having my Tax ID.  I'd appreciate your assistance.  Thank you so much!