This guide addresses the most common questions that our hosts encounter when managing tax collection and remittance for payments with Hospitable.
Common Tax Remittance Questions
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How does tax collection work for Direct Basic and Premium?
Tax collection is different depending on if you utilize Direct Basic versus Direct Premium.
Direct Basic: as part of Direct Basic, you will determine the tax rate that would be required to be collected and charged to each guest. Based on these rates, Hospitable will calculate the tax amount for each booking and collect this amount from the guest. Hospitable will always collect and pass-through these taxes to you for you to file and remit the taxes with the appropriate jurisdiction in a timely manner.
Direct Premium: as part of Direct Premium, Hospitable will automatically determine the necessary tax rates from our tax service partner that will calculate the applicable sales and/or lodging taxes to be collected and charged to each guest. Based on these rates, Hospitable will calculate the tax amount for each booking and collect amount from the guest. In some cases, Hospitable will either collect and pass-through these taxes to you for you to file and remit the taxes with the appropriate jurisdiction in a timely manner or Hospitable will collect and remit these taxes on your behalf. Review the additional FAQs for specific details on how taxes are managed when Hospitable remits on your behalf.
Where does Hospitable collect and remit tax for Direct Premium?
Tax collection and remittance for Direct Premium is based on supported jurisdictions where Hospitable has been approved to do so. These are automatically enabled and Hospitable will collect and remit these on your behalf.
In these locations, Hospitable will:
Automatically calculate applicable sales, use, lodging, and/or occupancy taxes
Collect the tax amount from the guest at the time of booking
File and remit the collected taxes directly to the appropriate taxing authority on your behalf
For jurisdictions that are not currently supported, Hospitable will still calculate and collect taxes, however you will remain responsible for filing and remitting those taxes.
For supported jurisdictions, visit our How Taxes are Handled in Direct help article for a breakdown state-by-state.
How will I know if you are collecting and remitting tax on my behalf?
You can identify whether Hospitable is collecting and remitting taxes on your behalf in a few ways:
Go to Properties → Direct → Taxes in your Hospitable dashboard to see any applicable taxes
Taxes will be marked as either:
Collected and remitted on your behalf
Collected and pass-through to you
Each individual reservation booking and financial description will note the taxes and types that were charged and if they are pass-through to you
Go to Metrics → Exports → Taxes in your Hospitable dashboard to see a breakdown of the taxes and types that were remitted on your behalf or pass-through to you
If Hospitable is remitting taxes on your behalf, no additional action is required from you for those specific taxes.
If you are remitting taxes on my behalf, what specific tax are you collecting and remitting?
Hospitable may collect and remit the following types of taxes, depending on the jurisdiction:
State and local sales and use taxes
Lodging and occupancy taxes
Tourism, hotel-related, and special jurisdiction taxes
The exact taxes collected and remitted will vary based on your listing location and state or local laws and regulations. You can review the specific taxes applied within your booking details and reservation financials, as well as in the following:
Go to Properties → Direct → Taxes section of your dashboard
Hospitable will document the:
Tax name
Tax type
Amount or percentage
What the tax applies to
If the tax is remitted on your behalf or pass-through to you
How does the specific taxing authority, agency, or department know you are collecting and remitting the tax on my behalf?
When Hospitable remits taxes on a host’s behalf, the taxes are filed and remitted in the aggregate under our name and taxpayer ID (TPID), and the host (or other applicable information) is not included individually as part of the filing. Depending on the jurisdiction, Hospitable may provide property addresses and details for the jurisdiction to apply the tax directly to that property.
As Hospitable is paying the tax directly to the taxing authority, agency, or department, Hospitable, not the host, is considered the taxpayer of record for these taxes. As such, the host is not required to file or remit these specific taxes independently as Hospitable is doing so on their behalf.
Because Hospitable remits the taxes, the tax obligation has been satisfied, and the host is not required to take additional action for these taxes.
What do I do if you do not collect and remit taxes on my behalf?
If Hospitable does not remit taxes for your listing:
You are responsible for:
Registering with the appropriate tax authorities
Filing tax returns
Remitting any taxes owed
Hospitable will still:
Calculate the the specified tax if applicable
Collect the tax from the guest
Pass the collected tax through to you
In these circumstances, you are considered the taxpayer of record, and the tax filings will occur under your taxpayer ID or applicable account number. Hospitable will provide any necessary documentation for pass-through taxes for you to determine your obligations with the appropriate jurisdiction if we passed any tax through directly to you.
Where can I see the taxes that were pass-through or remitted on my behalf?
If you are looking to see if taxes were passed through to you or remitted by Hospitable, you can review the following:
Go to Properties → Direct → Taxes
You will see the tax is remitted by Hospitable or pass-through to you
Go to Metrics → Exports → Taxes in your Hospitable dashboard to see a breakdown of the taxes and types that were remitted on your behalf or pass-through to you
Review any applicable reservation with the financial details by going to:
Inbox → Select Reservation
Calendar → Select Reservation
Under the financial details, the tax will be labeled as pass-through if it was collected and sent to you or it will be listed under the guest's financial details as additional taxes paid
At year-end, Hospitable will provide an Annual Earnings Report that will list each applicable payout method and a summary and detail of the payouts with the taxes that are listed as either pass-through or Hospitable remitted
What does Hospitable provide to document the tax is remitted?
Within the Metrics → Exports → Taxes tab, you will a breakdown of taxes with a detailed list of taxes that were collected and either remitted on their behalf or pass-through to you. Hospitable does not provide a report once the taxes are filed and remitted, however if a host requests support documentation, Hospitable can provide the following:
Hospitable’s tax collection and remittance policy in regards to the jurisdiction
Export the tax metrics to validate that the tax was collected and remitted on the host’s behalf
A statement validating that Hospitable collects and remits specific taxes