Starting January 1, 2025, a 7.5% short-term rental levy applies to eligible bookings in Victoria, Australia. This article explains how the levy works and how it is handled across Direct and Vrbo Partner bookings.
How the Levy Works
The levy applies to the total booking price, including:
Accommodation fees
Cleaning fees
Guest service fees
GST
The levy is included in the total amount paid by the guest.
The levy is calculated as part of the total booking price, not added separately after.
How Hospitable Handles the Levy
Direct Premium
For Direct Premium bookings, Hospitable:
Calculates the levy automatically
Collects the levy from guests
Remits the levy to the Victorian State Revenue Office
Direct Basic
For Direct Basic bookings:
You must manually configure the levy as a tax
You are responsible for reporting and remitting the levy
Also see: Taxes for Direct Bookings
Vrbo Partner (Vrbo MoR)
For Vrbo Partner Connection bookings, the levy is treated as a pass-through tax. Hospitable collects the levy from the guest as part of the total booking price and includes it in your payout. Vrbo remains responsible for remitting the levy to the Victorian State Revenue Office and will invoice you directly for the amount owed.
Vrbo invoices you separately for the levy amount. This is different from Direct Premium, where Hospitable both collects and remits the levy on your behalf.
How the Levy Is Calculated
The levy represents 7.5% of the total booking price.
Because it is included in the total, Hospitable calculates it as approximately 8.1% of the pre-levy amount to ensure accuracy.
This ensures the correct portion of the total booking is allocated to the levy.
Important Details
The levy is calculated based on the checkout date
Bookings spanning multiple periods are not split
The full levy is applied based on when the stay ends
Exemptions
Some properties may be exempt, such as:
Properties used as a principal place of residence
To claim an exemption:
Complete an exemption declaration via the Victorian government's online form
Submit the declaration to Hospitable Support — Hospitable will store it for your Direct Premium properties as required by law
Hosts are responsible for ensuring exemption eligibility and accuracy.
Important Things to Know
The levy applies to eligible bookings in Victoria only
Direct Premium automates collection and remittance
Direct Basic requires manual setup and reporting
The levy is included in the total booking price
Hosts are responsible for compliance and exemptions
Vrbo Partner (Vrbo MoR) bookings: the levy is collected and passed through to you; Vrbo invoices you and remains responsible for remitting it to the SRO
What About Airbnb and Booking.com?
For bookings that come through Airbnb or Booking.com, you don't need to do anything, those platforms handle the Victorian Short Stay Levy themselves. Here's how each one works so you know what to expect.
If the same property is listed across multiple channels, the levy is applied per booking based on the channel the guest booked through.
Airbnb absorbs it, Booking.com recovers it from you, and you lodge it yourself for direct bookings. Each booking is only levied once, and you don't need to reconcile between platforms.
Airbnb
Since 1 January 2025, Airbnb has been collecting the 7.5% Victorian Short Stay Levy directly from guests at the time of booking, for any stay of less than 28 consecutive days at a Victorian property. Airbnb then remits the levy directly to the Victorian State Revenue Office (SRO).
What this means for you:
The levy is added on top of what the guest pays, it doesn't come out of your payout.
Your Airbnb payout is unchanged by the levy.
You don't need to register with the SRO or lodge a return for bookings that come through Airbnb. (Note: if you also take bookings outside of platforms e.g., direct bookings taken off-platform, you may still need to register with the SRO for those.)
For Airbnb's own documentation, see Tax collection and remittance by Airbnb in Australia.
Booking.com
Booking.com also collects and remits the 7.5% Victorian Short Stay Levy for stays under 28 nights, but the mechanics are different from Airbnb's:
Booking.com pays the levy to the SRO on your behalf, then recovers it from you, the levy is not added on top of what the guest pays.
How Booking.com recovers the levy depends on your payment setup with them (applies to reservations made on or after 1 December 2025 with check-out on or after 1 March 2026):
If your Booking.com payouts already have commission deducted (bank transfer with auto-deducted commission), Booking.com will deduct the levy from your payouts too.
In all other setups (VCC payouts, bank transfer with separate commission invoices, or guest-pays-at-property), Booking.com sends a monthly payment request for the levy alongside your commission invoice, which you pay separately.
Booking.com will not automatically raise your rates to offset the levy. If you'd like guests to cover it, you have two options in Hospitable:
Raise your base nightly rate, this affects all channels (Airbnb, Direct, Vrbo, Booking.com). See Change Your Property's Pricing.
Apply a Booking.com-only markup, this only increases the price on Booking.com, so guests booking through other channels aren't affected by a levy that's already handled elsewhere. See Markup Rates on Hospitable
The levy is calculated on the full booking fee, including cleaning fees, GST, and any other charges on the reservation.
For Booking.com's own documentation, see Understanding short-stay levies in Australia.
Additional Resources
For full details on the levy, visit the Victorian State Revenue Office — Short Stay Levy.