I sent all of my guests a "resolution request" through airbnb. Some guests refused to pay it, some paid it. I guess it's better than nothing, as I have to pay it all anyway. I live in Sonoma. I talked to Jan at the County TOT office, and she said that airbnb has permission to add the tax box, and collect tax for me, but airbnb sent me this:
Evan, Mar 8, 12:34:
Alyssa,
Airbnb is not able to provide tax advice or advise to how local taxes affects your situation. For specific tax advice, I suggest working with a tax professional that is familiar with short-term rentals.
If you need to add taxes to your rates, please clearly explain the tax in your listing description so that potential guests are aware. You can increase the price of your listing to accommodate the tax percentage, or, after you've established the dates and number of guests for a potential reservation, you can use the Special Offer feature to set the correct price.
If you choose to collect a tax outside of your rates, we’re unable to assist in collecting the additional amount. Please be clear in your listing description and communication with guests so they can budget appropriately. We also ask that it is not collected before the time of arrival.
Airbnb’s ability to facilitate tax collection involves a number of factors, including discussions with tax authorities for the area—which could be at the city, county, state, or other jurisdictional level. We’ll let you know if an occupancy tax related feature becomes available for your listing. If you’d like to learn more, the Local Tax section of our Help Center has additional information:https://www.airbnb.com/support/topic/264
Best,
Evan
Hopefully, Airbnb will let us have a tax field soon, because this is expensive for me! 🙂