Good news it’s Friday!
Airbnb has recently released a couple of important host updates. The two key topics are COVID-19 Safety Practices and Host & Guest Reliability Standards. We mentioned this two weeks ago, but we wanted to make sure this has been brought to your attention. For the COVID-19 Safety Practices, hosts will need to log in to Airbnb in order to attest. You can do so right now by going to the attestation page. Hosts that don’t agree to these requirements by November 20 may have their calendars blocked from future bookings. So go do it now!
As for the Host & Guest Reliability Standards, Airbnb has added new criteria in the following areas:
- Unauthorized late checkouts
- Disregard of check-in time periods
- Unauthorized pets (excluding any assistance animals)
- Interference or removal of approved security devices
- Lack of respect for your house rules that reflect Airbnb’s policies
Cook County, Minnesota passed a new tax bill that applies to all vacation rental properties. For the estimated 600 properties in Cook County, a 15 to 20 percent increase in taxes will be applied. Along with the tax increase the properties will no longer be classified with their original tax designation as ‘seasonal rec’ properties, according to Jim Boyd, the director of the Cook County Chamber of Commerce. Due to this, these properties are liable for school levy override tax burdens, which they were formerly exempt. Yay taxes…
The Florida Supreme Court has finally made up it’s mind on who remits the Florida “bed tax”. Owners must now be the ones to collect and remit taxes. This legal feud has gone back and forth on whether or not vacation rental sites can be the ones to collect and remit taxes on behalf of the owner. In a 2-1 decision, the court determined that a dealer is “one who can grant a possessory interest in the property,” which only owners can do. That being said listing sites no longer have the power to collect and remit taxes for owners, even though back in 2015 they were okay with that...
The island of O'ahu is once again allowed to operate short term vacation rentals. It has been seven long months since these vacation rentals were forced to convert to long term rentals. Owners were left desperate, having to drop their monthly rates which were only generating about half of what they make with short term renters. Hopefully the 8,000 passengers that landed on the 1st day of the new pre-travel testing policy can help with this.
