IMPORTANT NM Gross Receipts Tax Forms NEEDED FROM AIR BNB Calling all NM Hosts to Demand these

[Jennifer62]

I have had a legal short term rental in NM since 2013 and always paid my Gross Receipts Taxes.

I just got off the phone with the State Taxation department and learned exactly what we need from AirBNB to prove they are paying over what they are calling 'occupancy taxes' properly to the State. They have been collecting them from all our New Mexico guests on rentals since July 1, 2019

We need 'a statement to agree and pay taxes called a TS 22' OR 'a NTTC - Non Taxable Transaction Certificate' from Air BNB to file with our Gross Receipts taxes. 

This is such a complicated situation and AirBNB is NOT doing it properly. Each part of NM has a different Gross Receipts Tax formula which is updated twice a year. Then, cities like Santa Fe have their own lodger's tax. For my guests, the total for July 1 - Dec 31 2019 should be 15.4375% (7% to Santa Fe, 8.4375% NM Gross Receipts Tax)

When I look up my Transaction History, I can see that AirBNB charged my guests MORE than these totals in all but two cases - two bookings that were made prior to July 1 but actually occurred in July. 

In your Transaction History, the amounts are called occupancy taxes which is INCORRECT and NOT USEFUL to show to the State of NM to show that these taxes have been collected by AirBNB.

Every NM AirBNB owner needs to call AirBNB and get them to get us the proper documents. They also need to explain to the State how they are collecting more money than they are entitled to from the guests. 

If you file bi-annually, which I do, you need to file by 1/27/20 to avoid a penalty. Please join me in pressuring AirBNB to do the right thing and provide all NM hosts with one of the two acceptable forms to show they have collected and will pay these taxes on our behalf. We owe it to the State we do business in. 

[Keith488]

Hi Jennifer,

Like you, I spoke to NM TRD and got similar info about the NTTC about our home in Angel Fire. Further, I have called AirBnB and continue to meet the same lack of understanding about the requirement of providing this certificate/form to me, and all other NM hosts, that you are just experienced. Ever since the AirBnB platform began collecting taxes for my property last July (wrong percentage, by the by - too high, like your situation), my tax compliance life on this app has become more burdensome than ever before - when I simply collected and remitted taxes directly. Heck, I even asked them to stop collecting on my behalf so I could go back to my own efforts. That request was denied as I expected it would.

The many representatives I have spoken to and corresponded with (their "advanced finance team" does not speak to anyone - they only send uninformed template emails that indicate they do not read the inquiries or understand the specifics of the situation), make it clear they are in non-compliance with NM rules of the road. My most recent calls to AirBnB led to the representative sending me a link to the Community forum to "read what others are writing" about New Mexico taxes. Not helpful. She also mentioned she would share my concern internally. It's not a concern I told her - but a requirement for all homeowners conducting short-term lodging business in the state whereby someone else is collecting and submitting GRT on our behalf. I know my call was useless and sad all at once.

Needless to say, I will be filing before this Friday (I have chosen the 2x a year submission option like you - and have always understood the deadline to be the 25th of the month following the period's revenue earning time frame), and putting in the amount collected by AirBnB in the "deduction" column of the CRS online utility.  Not sure what else to do in this case to avoid filing late. It will show an overpayment (due to the higher-than-required amounts AirBnB has collected) which I expect can be used as a credit towards future taxes owed, and I expect to get a letter from NM TRD when they see I have not submitted any payments directly, as has been my practice the past few years. I fear that this will lead to more lost time and aggravation until AirBnB (if and when) gets it right.

Hoping others will do as you suggest - and pile on AirBnB in order to get them to simply comply with our state's policies.

Keith

PS I don't see where/how the NTTC form could be submitted online to NM TRD on their CRS system when and if AirBnB provides one - do you?

[Laura4078]

FYI on AirBnB seemingly collecting and paying too MUCH gross receipts taxes: They pay gross receipts on our behalf on our gross income (rent and cleaning, before they take out their cut from us), AND ALSO they pay gross receipts on the separate "Service Fee" they charge our guests (looks like maybe 13% of gross? just based on one mock booking on my end; they don't show us this number in their reports to us).  That's why it's been looking like they're collecting/paying 8.04ish percent here, rather than 7.125 as they should... The math seems to pretty much check out.

Of course, this makes it trickier for us to use their financial summaries to us to show what they actually did pay just on our behalf; it will be your local tax rate on their Gross Earnings column.

More talking with TRD today; they were clear (she checked with supervisor) that AirBnB should fill out and execute an NTTC on our behalf ( with our CRS/TRD number), at which time the NTTC will automagically appear on our TAP filing page.... I asked if this was something they know people have successfully done, rather than just a concept, and she seemed to think, yes, it's becoming routine.  I'm dubious, but will let you know how it goes IF I find a channel at AirBnB that can do this for me.

[Kati1644]

I would suggest that you file a complaint with the NM Attorney General's office.  It is not just for you that they are charging the incorrect rate, but for everyone in Colfax County.

I filed a complaint with our AG's office after I was continually told that Airbnb had a contract with Colfax County for lodgers tax and the Colfax County person responsible for this assured me that she had never received any funds from Airbnb.  After being questioned by our AG's office with the supporting evidence from Colfax County that they do not receive these funds, Airbnb finally admitted that they'd made a mistake in their program, that they fixed it and that the lodger's tax that they claimed that they'd been paying would be reimbursed back to the individual renters would be done.

[Laura4078]

What AirBnB contact do you recommend we all use?  I got the same info from NM Tax and Revenue as you did, we need one of those forms.  Though they said the TS-22 would be issued by AirBnB (presumably showing what they paid on our behalf), while the NTTC is something we can fill out (link on the dashboard of our CRS/TAP page with Tax and Rev), but that we will need a tax number from AirBnB to include--either their CRS number (if they have a NM base) or their Federal EIN (if they don't have a NM base).  AirBnB doesn't need to submit or sign the NTTC, we just need that number to fill it out on the CRS/TAP website, after which we have to associate it with our account, permanently.  (until I get the number from AirBnB and do that, I can't say much about how well that process works or where it's tricky...)

[Keith488]

My previous post to this community on this issue was deleted for some reason. I tried re-posting 4 times. Guess they did not like my comments on how confusing this whole thing is and how few answers are being offered. And in no case are they going to provide homeowners with any forms, based on my calls and emails.

I called NM TRD today and they told me to get something in writing - anything at all - from both AirBnB and VRBO (our home in Angel Fire is listed on both) so if we get audited we can provide that documentation to support as proof that these platforms are indeed collecting and remitting on our behalf.

The customer service team from the other app had a good idea, too: take a screen shot of the pages that show/detail how the platform is performing this service - and how they are required by the state of NM to do so. If we get the audit letters (which I expect will happen) we can begin by providing these screen shots as proof that the state is getting their $ from AirBnB on our collective behalf.  AirBnB will not be breaking down payments by individuals - it's one lump payment according to the people I spoke with.

Lastly, AirBnB'S FED EIN is: 263051428 and can be found here: https://www.hipaaspace.com/ein/ein_verification/263051428.

[Laura4078]

Excellent, Keith, thank you!  That EIN should let us fill out the NTTC on the CRS/TAP page.  After I give it a shot, I'll come back here and let folks know how it worked, and outline the process...

UPDATE: Not altogether obvious how this works, confusing terminology.  But the CRS/TAP page does have good step by step instructions in the FAQ section, then NTTC tab.  First step of submitting a NTTC didn't need AirBnB tax number, but 2nd step (executing it) will; though FAQ implies they want a CRS there, as they also did on the first step. Time will tell.

[Laura4078]

Keith, were you told by T&R to simply enter revenues and equal deductions, resulting in zero taxable revenue and zero tax?  

Good idea to save screenshots as documentation to start.  Or download the CSV files each period and save them as PDFs.  Unfortunately, it doesn't seem the AirBnB accounting windows or CSV files include totals at the bottom; just each individual guest breakdown!

[Keith488]

Hi Laura,

I was told by the TRD rep (Mark) to do just that: put in the deductions to offset the revenues earned to show that I will not owe any taxes.

Interestingly enough, AirBnB over charged the taxes (VRBO was exact) on what was actually owed, but there's no way to show this as a credit.

And yes, I always save my excel work to back up the payments I make, too. Good habit. 🙂

Can you tell me more about the NTTC as you noted in your last post? When I submitted a request for one, it simply took my info from the TAP site and auto populated and told me the submission was sent.  No where did they ask me for any other company info. But I really am confused by the language NM uses to describe buyer vs. seller on their whole NTTC site. (You mentioned the same re "confusing terminology."

Seeing we are leasing to "buyers" (renters of our property) who are not exempt from GRT, we would be the seller. However, if AirBnb and/or VRBO are now in the mix, not sure what that makes us.  Whatchya think?

[Laura4078]

I also don't quite fathom the which side of the buyer/seller equation we're on.

After submitting the authorization form for the NTTC, we are supposed to have that be completed on their end at some point (for me this is only the 2nd working day since I submitted it).  At that point, there's another step, involving "executing" the NTTC, and it's here that it appears we're supposed to enter the AirBnB tax number (but: the instructions only mention their CRS, while the phone rep at NM TRD told me we could use their EIN if they don't have a NM homebase/account).  Time will tell how transparent that is.  Even after "executing" the NTTC, which attaches it permanently to our CRS account, I am not positive how that works going forward....my impression was that with an Executed NTTC on file, they will accept our deductions and non-tax-payment routinely.

I'll keep you posted here as I work through the process.  FYI, there is a good FAQ section on NTTC on the CRS/TAP site, which details the steps, though doesn't clarify the buyer/seller thing.  

I'm thinking of filing this first time (first period I'm renting, and also first period AirBnB is doing this gross receipts collection/submission in NM, I believe) using a hard copy and just sending along printouts of my one-page financial summary from AirBnB to show that they are submitting for me.  I'll be paying for one VRBO booking myself as well; I'm thinking to enter three lines on the CRS form: one for the taxable AirBnB bookings being paid by AirBnB, one for the VRBO that I'm paying tax on, and one for a booking that's exempt from tax because it was for over a month.

Appreciating this discussion.  More to come.

FWIW, I'm actually Jim, the owner, now in Maine; logging in via my friend's account who lives on the property and is overseeing the booking...but I've got more experience filing tax stuff so am handling this side of things!

[Stephanie]

@Keith488 RE: missing posts. Sometimes posts get held in spam for seemingly odd reasons. If you post and it doesn't appear, just drop me a DM and I'll get it released for you ASAP.

Thanks

[Keith488]

@Stephanie Thanks for that!

[Cheryl493]

Keith and Stephanie,

Thank you for all the information regarding NTTC .  Can you tell me what type of NTTC you requested .  None of these options seem appropriate to me.  There are several options.2 tangibles/Licenses for Resale 5-Services for Resale 9 (for use by 501(c)(3) organizations, state chartered credit union, government entities including , Indian Tribes/Nations or Pueblos) 10, 11, and 16 NTTCs. Type 6  Contruction Contractor will need to be renewed for prior to the expiration date of the contractor’s license. Types 9 (for use on IRB projects), 12, 15, and 17 NTTCs will have to be applied for separately for each contract or agreement.  Thank you Cheryl

[Donna1061]

I'm following this thread. Thanks for the information. This has been really frustrating.

1. Type of NTTC?

2. Buyer or Seller?

3. How to get Airbnb to send me an NTTC in return because that's the what we need for our taxes.

This has all been really frustrating. Thanks for bringing up the subject.

[Brenda-and-Barbara0]

@Cheryl493 @Laura4078 @Keith488 @Cheryl493@Donna1061 

Hi everyone, any updates on what has worked for you? Also, is it confirmed that airbnb collects both the NM gross receipts tax and the lodgers tax (i.e. for Santa Fe county)?