Sarasota County Nets $978,000 From Airbnb Guests

SARASOTA, FL -- While some counties continue to battle Airbnb over their fair share of bed tax revenue, Sarasota County isn't complaining.

The international company that allows residents to rent their homes or rooms in their homes to visitors has delivered more than $978,000 in tax revenues to Sarasota County in the first year of its tax agreement with the county.

In April 2017, the Sarasota County Tax Collector’s Office and Airbnb announced a tax agreement authorizing the home sharing and vacation rental platform to automatically collect the 5 percent Sarasota County bed tax on behalf of its host community and remit the revenue directly to the county. That agreement was approved by the Sarasota County Commission and took effect on May 1, 2017, infusing a new revenue stream and encouraging tourists to remain longer in Sarasota.

Based on 2016 data, Airbnb estimated Tourist Development Tax revenue from bookings made in Sarasota County on the Airbnb platform to be only $355,000. Sarasota hosted more than 67,000 Airbnb guests in 2017.

The Sarasota tax agreement marked the 36th Florida county to authorize Airbnb to collect and remit bed taxes. That total is now up to 40 counties, most recently neighboring Charlotte County. The company reached out in 2015 to all 63 counties that assess a bed tax to offer its partnership to help collect and remit county taxes. Airbnb also has a partnership with the Florida Department of Revenue to collect and remit state sales taxes on all taxable bookings throughout Florida.

Not all counties have been pleased with their arrangements with Airbnb.

Manatee County Tax Collector Ken Burton Jr. filed a lawsuit against Airbnb in late April for not submitting the tax revenue. He believes the tax collector's office is entitled to information about the property owners contracting with Airbnb to verify the tax collection is accurate. However, Airbnb and the Florida Department of Revenue entered into an agreement in 2015 allowing Airbnb to collect and remit the state sales tax on behalf of hosts in the state.

“Collecting and remitting hotel taxes can be incredibly complicated,” Benjamin Breit, Airbnb Florida spokesman, said in a press release. “The rules were designed for traditional hospitality providers and large hotel corporations with teams of lawyers and accountants. For this reason, Airbnb has partnered with over 370 local governments throughout the U.S. to collect and remit taxes, making the process seamless and easy for hosts to pay their fair share while contributing new revenue for local governments."

Image via Airbnb

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