How to collect custom hotel tax in Austin, TX?

[Michael288]

Howdy Hosts,

I understand that Airbnb has recently enabled custom tax collection for hosts. I live and host from Austin, TX which would require the collection and remittance of both state and city hotel taxes.

When I attempted to set up custom tax collection for my listing, I was stumped by some of the information it required. Specifically I was confused by Business Tax id and Accommodations tax registration number. My listings are for my primary residence and I haven't used an LLC or other business entity to manage the listings or collect income.

Does anyone have experience setting this up and remitting to the proper city and state authorities? Bonus points if you've set this up for a listing in Austin, TX!

Thanks!

[Emiel1]

@Michael288 

Some taxes are charged/remitted by Airbnb automaticallly:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2331/occupancy-tax-collection-and-remittance-by-airbnb-in-texas

BTW

I looked at your listings:

Hotel Occupancy Tax (Texas) is already charged to guests

[Michael288]

@Emiel1 I realize that Airbnb is automatically collecting tax for the State of Texas. The problem is that it does not collect hotel tax for the City of Austin.

When I try to 'add tax' to collect for Austin, Airbnb forces me to manually collect both taxes instead of simply adding the City of Austin tax.

I was hoping someone hosting from Austin had experience going through this entire process.

[Jody163]

Michael - have you figured this out?  I'm having the same issue.  Airbnb collects Texas state tax, but not the City of Austin Hotel Occupancy Tax.  I found this on the city's website.

Is AirBnB paying on behalf of the property owner City of Austin Hotel Occupancy Tax?

AirBnB is NOT collecting the City of Austin Hotel Occupancy Tax of 9% from the property owner and AirBnB is NOT remitting the 9% City of Austin Hotel Occupancy Tax to the City of Austin .  Currently AirBnB is collecting and remitting the 6% State Hotel Occupancy Tax to the State of Texas.  The owner of the property is responsible for collecting and remitting the 9% City of Austin Hotel Occupancy Tax on a quarterly basis.

I found this on the Airbnb site, but I don't even see a "local taxes and laws" section on my listings page.  

If we collect and remit taxes for your listing (default taxes)

If we already collect some taxes for you, there are two ways you can add taxes to your listing, depending on the jurisdiction your listing is in.

The first way lets you choose between default and custom tax collection. If you choose custom tax collection under this option, we'll only collect the taxes you add.

Go to your Listings page and click the listing that you want to edit

Select Local taxes and laws

Choose Custom tax collection

Click Add a tax

Select the Tax type from the drop-down menu

Select the Type of charge and then add the amount being collected in the box under Amount

Add your Business tax ID and Accommodations tax registration number (read additional info about tax IDs below)

Choose whether your region provides an exemption for long-term stays (if you choose Yes, you’ll be given the option to provide additional details)

Agree to the terms and click Save

If you later remove all custom taxes, you’ll automatically switch back to default tax collection.

[Becky404]

My listing doesn't show the Local Taxes and laws-

I have gone round and round trying to figure this out. I want Airbnb to collect and remit the state tax (default) and I want to add an additional local tax on listing so it is transparent upfront to the guest and collected for me- I would then remit local occupancy myself like  I do for other platforms. I am in Surfside Beach TX- anyone know how to do this? I would be soooooo grateful!

Becky

[Michael288]

@Becky404 Unfortunately it appears to be an all or nothing thing on Airbnb. 

You'll have to manually collect and remit both taxes, state and local, in your case.

[Michael288]

Yes, I did finally figure this out. Getting a tax ID from the state of Texas wasn't straightforward. I had to mail in a form physically. That did the trick though.

[Kristal27]

Michael, what exactly is the accommodation number? I need to add the bed tax for my county but I can't see that it is being accepted under the custom tax page. The AirBnB rep told me to use my State tax number but that doesn't make sense because that is for sales tax not the county tourism (bed) tax. So, that additional 5% is still not being collected. 😞 I'm trying to reach my county but AirBNB folks are not helpful. Thank you! Kristal

[Andrew2518]

Michael, are you saying that you were able to add both, State and CoA taxes manually using the tax ID? 

On my listing tax section, all I see is this.  I don't have a manual option.

Taxes

Your listing is in Texas State where Airbnb may collect and remit occupancy taxes, if required, from guests on your behalf. Learn more