Payout Method location

[Mirla0]

I'm a new Property Manager/Primary Host in the US. Here's the situation:

1) The Listing Owner wants me, the Primary Host, to handle all of the listing's finances. The payout method we are using is a bank account in my name, in order to fulfill the Listing Owner's request.

2) Can the payment method be entered into the Primary Host's Airbnb account (mine), if I am not the Listing Owner? If so, will Airbnb pay out into the payout method entered into my account if I'm not the Listing Owner?

3) If I am required to enter the payout method into the Listing Owner's Airbnb account instead, in order to get payouts, but the tax information Airbnb requires me to enter for the payout method will need to match the bank holder's (my) name, will there be a problem with the bank holder/taxpayer names being different than the Listing Owner/Airbnb account name?

Customer service was no help whatsoever. So thank you all in advance. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Mirla0 if you are a property manager you will need to take advice from a CPA. You will be liable for all the tax on the income if you are unable to class the income given to the host as an expense. This means you need to be able to issue the host with the appropriate tax form.

[Mirla0]

Thanks. I know. I will be speaking to my own CPA about how to issue a 1099 to the Listing Owner, since Airbnb no longer allows us to granularly split payouts, using fixed amounts.

1) Still need to know whether I can safely enter the payout method into my own Airbnb account and get the payout from Airbnb, or whether it needs to be entered into the Listing Owner's account.

2) Still need to know whether the tax information entered/associated with the payout method needs to match the bank holder's name, or whether it needs to always be the Listing Owner (original Host).

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Mirla0 Airbnb don't care who the property owner is. If however by Listing owner you mean the host of the listing then I think they need to match the payout details

[Mirla0]

The info I've received from the half dozen customer service reps I've spoken to have been conflicting, and contradict yours!

Also, still need the answers to my actual questions. Thanks for trying to help - I truly appreciate it.

[Lorna170]

@Mirla0   It is a little confusing...under whose account is the property listed?  Did the property owner set up a listing on AirBnB and has made you a co-host?  OR did you set up the listing under your AirBnB account and make the owner the co-host?

Anyway, my advice would be to open a "property" bank account that is joint with the actual owner and yourself.  Then no matter whose AirBnB account the listing is under, the payment method is clearly to the "property" account.  Your CPA can advise you further on how to handle the taxes and income reporting.

The tax information for the payout method should, IMO, match the bank account holder's name.  There should be no cross-reference to the listing owner.  The bank account that I have listed for my property does not have the same name as me, the AirBnB account owner, and the tax form has the ID of the bank account owner, not me, the listing owner.  

[Mirla0 · Accepted solution]

Thank you, Lorna. As I mentioned in #1 of my original post, the Listing Owner and I are two different people. 

You are right about this: yesterday, a confident, knowledgeable (needle in a haystack) member of the Airbnb support team confirmed for certain that:

1) the payout method must be entered into the Listing Owner's account

2) the Listing Owner and the payment account holder do NOT have to be the same person

3) the tax information entered on the W9 must match that of the bank holder of the payment method

4) the 1099 tax form will be sent to the bank holder, who will be the person responsible for paying all taxes on the listing, assuming theirs is the sole payout method entered for the listing.

[Helen3]

You are the cohost not the host as you are not the owner.

if makes no sense for you tax wise to set the listing up in this way you have planned ..

as an experienced host -  I'm sure you know the best way to set up the listing is for the owner to set up the listing, and add you as the cohost.

they can then set up the agreed cohost fee to be paid to you directly @Mirla0 so you only pay tax on your income and host is responsible for tax on their income. 

[Mirla0]

Hi Helen - that's correct. I'm the Co-host, who the Host/Owner has assigned Primary Host status, so that I can act as Property Manager and handle all aspects of the listing, including the financial. I think I was clear about that in my original post. I do have a contract with the owner for a cohost fee, so already taken care of.

The Owner, who is not tech savvy, asked me to set up the listing, which I did under HER account. So she is the listing owner/Host. She wants me to handle all of the finances as well, which is why this has been a very sticky problem.

However, I now have definitive information from a knowledgeable Airbnb specialist, whose response I included elsewhere in this thread.