Airbnb agrees to collect Bend room taxes
The popular lodging website Airbnb has agreed to collect transient room taxes for participating property owners in Bend, starting Oct. 1, the city and company announced late last week.
“Today, we are excited to announce new tax agreements with two communities in Oregon: Bend and Washington County,” said Laura Rillos, Northwest press secretary for Airbnb Portland.
“Our community of hosts want to pay their fair share and we want to help,” she said. “These agreements allow cities to rightfully benefit in the economic impact of home sharing while also making it easier for Airbnb hosts, the vast majority of whom are middle-class people sharing their own home, to comply with local tax laws.
“We have worked with cities around the world to establish programs to collect and remit hotel, occupancy, and tourist taxes on behalf of our guests and hosts. There are 200 communities around the world taking part in this program.
“We began collecting and remitting transient lodging taxes on behalf of hosts in Washington County on July 1,” Rillos said. “We will begin collecting and remitting transient lodging taxes in the City of Bend on October 1.”
In 2014, Portland became one of the first cities where Airbnb began collecting and remitting on behalf of its hosts, she said, noting that the Portland City Council has decided to spend that money on affordable housing.
Anne Aurand, the city of Bend’s communications director, said some properties that advertise on Airbnb have been remitting room taxes separately.
“This agreement will ensure we get room tax revenues from all Airbnb properties, and it will be remitted directly from Airbnb,” Aurand said.
Until now, she explained, when Airbnb booked a property and collected the money, it would send the money to the owners, who then were responsible for reporting and paying the room taxes on their own.
“Now, Airbnb will remit them directly,” Auirand said. “It simplifies the process for the rental owners and ensures the city gets all the taxes its owned.”
