County shoots air ball at tax collection

As Lakewood Ranch resident Brittany McManus headed out the door Jan. 31 to a wedding in Orlando, she had her overnight bag and clothes in hand and a reservation not for a hotel, but for a four-bedroom house she stayed at with friends.

The 33-year-old booked it through Airbnb, a service that pairs travelers with in-home, short-term rental accommodations. She has used it on

her trips to South Africa, Italy, Costa Rica and throughout the United States.

“I think it’s cooler than staying in a hotel, and you’re boosting the local economy,” McManus said.

Airbnb has agreements in place to collect the tourist tax on behalf of 40 of 67 Florida counties. Manatee County is not one of them — yet.

Manatee County Commissioner Betsy Benac asked fellow board members Jan. 29 to look into having the Florida Department of Revenue collect the tax from Airbnb, as it does for more than 20 counties, after she read an article about how many Florida communities are getting revenue from Airbnb.

“I thought if it’s working for other communities, why not us?” Benac said.

Airbnb, which does not own the properties rented through its online platform, has offered to collect the bed tax for Manatee County, but the Manatee County Tax Collector Ken Burton Jr. has not been OK with that arrangement. By county ordinance, the tax collector is supposed to collect the tourist tax.

Burton doesn’t want to strike an agreement with Airbnb unless his department has access to more information than Airbnb is willing to give. Airbnb will not allow the tax collector to audit and review Airbnb’s books, nor does it want to be required to provide any personally identifiable information on any guest or host in connection with an audit, according to a memo dated April 27, 2018.

Airbnb spokesman Ben Breit said the agreement proposed by Airbnb does allow for auditing.

Currently, homeowners using Airbnb in Manatee County are responsible for collecting and remitting the tax, which is 5% to Manatee County (for any rental less than six months) and another 7% state sales tax, remitted to the Florida Department of Revenue. If the Florida Department of Revenue collected both taxes, it would effectively take the Manatee County Tax Collector out of the process.

Commissioners said they would like to find a way to address the tax collector’s concerns and have that department collect the taxes from Airbnb if possible.

“Florida is a hot spot for Air-bnb. We have a lot of tourists in this area,” said Commissioner Vanessa Baugh. “We’re missing the boat in a lot of ways.”

Commissioners asked the county attorney’s office to research the county’s options.

Airbnb began collecting bed tax revenue for Sarasota County in mid-2017 and collected $1.1 million in 2018. That figure comes from 100,000 guest arrivals, or $22.8 million in income for hosts. By comparison, Manatee County had 49,000 guest arrivals, generating $12.4 million in income for hosts, according to data released Jan. 15 by Airbnb.

At a 5% tourist tax rate, that could have been about $640,000 in tourism revenue for the county last year.

Burton in April 2018 filed a lawsuit against Airbnb, alleging it has failed to pay the taxes it believes it has collected. U.S. Middle District Court Tampa Division Judge William Jung dismissed the case Oct. 30, 2018, but a motion to reopen it was granted. A hearing is scheduled for Feb. 26.