Simplified tax for short-stay housing providers proposed - Consultation - 22 March 2019 New Zealand

[Helen427]

Simplified tax for short-stay housing providers proposedTuesday, 5 February 2019, 9:12 am
Press Release: Inland Revenue Department

Inland Revenue is seeking feedback on a proposal to simplify tax obligations for people who rent out their property as short-term accommodation.

IRD’s Director Public Rulings Susan Price says if someone gets money from renting out their house, a room, holiday home or a sleep-out - it's income – and they have to file a tax return.

“People renting out a room in their home can claim costs like advertising and a proportion of the expenses for the time the space is rented including things like rates, insurance and cleaning. What we’re proposing in our draft Determination is a standard, nightly amount to claim as costs,” Susan Price says.

“The proposed amount is $50 a night if the host is the home owner and $45 a night if the host rents the property. They may qualify if the space is rented for up to 100 days each year.

“Qualifying hosts may be able to use the standard costs from the Determination and don’t have to work out their actual costs. If they don’t meet the criteria, or choose not to use the standard costs, all income must be returned and the actual costs calculated to claim as deductions.

“We’ve drafted the new rules to simplify the tax obligations for people who occasionally host short-stay accommodation guests in their home, using websites such as Airbnb or Bookabach.

”We’re also consulting on draft guidance about how the existing rules apply for other short-stay accommodation hosts who can’t use the proposed standardised deductions – either because they rent space out for more than 100 nights per year or because the accommodation isn’t in their home.

“We’re releasing the proposed Determinations and guidance in “Questions We’ve Been Asked” (QWBAs) for public consultation today. We’d very much like to hear from people on this,” Susan Price says. Inland Revenue is also updating the Determination that applies to taxpayers who have a boarder in their home. The refreshed Determination is also now out for public consultation.

The draft Determination and questions will be open for submission for six weeks and are available here: https://www.ird.govt.nz/public-consultation/current/.

Following consultation, Inland Revenue will review and consider any comments received before finalising and publishing the items.

Taxes help pay for essential important public services like hospitals and important social services. Please check our webpage www.ird.govt.nz/property to make sure you're paying your fair share.

https://www.ird.govt.nz/public-consultation/current/

Currently consulting on

Let us know what you think about our drafts. Are they technically accurate? Do they fairly reflect taxation legislation? Are they in line with commercial reality and useful in practical situations?

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PUB00303/a to PUB00303/g: Renting out your home, a room within your home, or a separate residential property as short-stay accommodation.

We’re consulting on 7 draft items that explain your tax obligations if you rent out your home, a room within your home, or a separate residential property. These items focus on short-stay accommodation provided through peer-to-peer websites such as Airbnb, Bookabach or Holiday Houses.

To help you work out which items are relevant to your situation, you should read the Overview first. The Overview has flowcharts you can work through to find the items most relevant to your situation, and links straight through to those items.

We’ll be consulting on some further draft items on short-stay accommodation in the coming months - one covering the GST issues in detail, and one covering the issues that arise where the property is held in trust.

Comment deadline: 22 March 2019

• PUB00303 - Overview - Consultation on accommodation items - PDF format (1004KB | 6 pages)
• PUB00303/a - Set costs for boarders in your home - PDF format (1.16MB | 26 pages)
• PUB00303/b - Set costs for short-stay accommodation in your home - PDF format (1.17MB | 15 pages)
• PUB00303/c - Standard rules for short-stay accommodation in your home - PDF format (1.13MB | 14 page...
• PUB00303/d - Which income tax rules apply to accommodation in a holiday home? - PDF format (867KB | ...
• PUB00303/e - Applying the mixed-use asset rules to a holiday home - PDF format (918KB | 9 pages)
• PUB00303/f - Applying the standard rules to a holiday home - PDF format (603KB | 8 pages)
• PUB00303/g - Short-stay accommodation - GST registration - PDF format (448KB | 9 pages

[Helen427]

Hello fellow New Zealand Hosts and Guests of Airbnb, please share amongst our community and make a submission to IRD - Inland Revenue Tax Department.

Everyone's say is important.

It's observed they are having a 100 day limit for amount able to be claimed for hosting a private room.

There doesn't appear to be any info, of what I've read, for over and above the 100 days, bearing in mind Airbnb and other booking platforms are used more frequently now than the traditional Trade Me platform for home sharing, older folk will recall that The Herald / Dominion Post etc used to have at least a page or more of Rental listings for whole properties and flatmates, perhaps it's an area that needs to have greater discussion.

One must be mindful and considerate of the fact people do have economic reasons to share their home and for whatever reason, including health reasons, may need to have time away from sharing with others for their own respite, yet may need to have someone sharing with them over the 100 day proposed guidelines.

Thoughts and contributions welcome on here to.

[Helen427]

Note, Deadline for submissions is 22 March 2019

[Helen427]

https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/111563554/call-for-regulations-on-airbnbstyle-accom...

Call for regulations on Airbnb-style accommodation in Taranaki

Brianna McIlraith17:03, Mar 28 2019

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  123RF.COM

  Airbnb has become massively popular.

  Accommodation providers in New Plymouth are calling for regulations on the hundreds of rooms and properties being rented out to tourists.

  It is understood that there are more than 450 entire homes in New Plymouth listed on the Airbnb website, which helps tourists find alternatives to hotels and motels, and a number of people have given up their day jobs to turn their homes into businesses.

  But there are no regulations for properties offering such peer-to-peer accommodation and the Taranaki branch of industry body Hospitality New Zealand is calling for change.

  ANDY JACKSON/STUFF

  "I just wonder whether they've got the right consents," Deborah Tawa said about residential properties operating as businesses.

  "Many of these properties are turning over tens of thousands of dollars operating as commercial enterprises in residential areas with no regulations whatsoever," Brett Brennen, accommodation sector chairman for Hospitality NZ Taranaki, told a New Plymouth District Council planning committee this week.

   

  READ MORE:
  * Mike Yardley: Christchurch must regulate the A‌i‌r‌b‌n‌b‌ rort
  * Hello crooked playing field - time to make Airbnb owners comply
  * Taranaki woman quits her job to be a full-time Airbnb host

  Brennen, along with Beach Street Motel Apartments owner and vice president of Hospitality NZ Taranaki Deborah Tawa, told Tuesday's committee meeting of their concern about the lack of regulations governing the domestic short-term accommodation industry. 

   

  They want the council to bring in regulations for any peer-to-peer accommodation provider, such as someone renting out their spare bedroom or property to visitors and tourists, so they are bound by the same commercial regulations and rates that apply to regular accommodation providers.

  They also want the same health and safety regulations that apply to commercial operators to apply to Airbnb and similar providers.

  "All we are asking for is that it's a level playing field," Tawa told the meeting.

  "Peer-to-peer accommodation presents us with a challenge going forward here in Taranaki," Brennen said. 

  "During their early rapid growth these companies disrupted an established industry before local policy makers could do anything about it."

  He said under the Building Act 2004, section 114 and 115, building owners are required to notify the council if they intend to change the use of a building.

  This would affect anyone renting out a home to visitors.

  But both Brennen and Tawa questioned how many did notify the council.   

  "I just wonder whether they've got the right consents," Tawa told councillors. 

  Brennen and Tawa were keen to work together with the council to help work out a model for Taranaki, although they would like to see a wider government policy that is standard for the whole country. 

  "Let's hope it doesn't take a death in an Airbnb property for them to take action," Tawa said.

  Vicki Fairley, general manager marketing and tourism for Venture Taranaki said there was no way for them to know how many people stay in peer-to-peer accommodation as Statistics New Zealand is yet to measure the accommodation type.  

  "With the rapid rise of alternative accommodation options, such as Airbnb, this has been identified as a definite gap in the statistics in the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's Tourism Data Domain Plan 2018 and one they are seeking to address," she said in a written statement. 

  Jo Bourke, co-directors of property management company Bach Break New Plymouth, said they specialised in holiday rental accommodation, fixed term fully furnished rentals and domestic property cleaning.

  She said majority of the properties listed on the website were residential properties with absentee owners. She said all properties had to adhere to companies regulations, such as having a working smoke alarm, fire extinguisher and correct insurance cover. 

  Bourke said that regulations for peer-to-peer accommodation would eventually need to be introduced. 

  "It is an emerging industry so it is inevitable that regulations will come in to play," she said in a written statement.

  "It is extremely important that there is a thorough and robust process of consultation with the industry sector around future regulations, what is fair and feasible while still allowing the industry to flourish." 

  New Plymouth District Council has been approached for comment.

   

  Stuff