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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 6, 2019 11:27 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Doyle Heffley |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Airbnb registry |
| I will be reintroducing legislation that will require online home sharing and short-term rental companies doing business in Pennsylvania to register with the state and share information with taxing authorities. This was House Bill 1810 from last session, which passed the House by a vote of 177-14. At this point, all hotels, bed and breakfasts and persons who provide temporary overnight accommodation to the public are required to collect state and county hotel taxes from their customers. This includes not only actual hotels but also individuals who offer their home or a room in their home for transient stays of less than 30 days. In cases like these, your home or room is considered a hotel for hotel tax purposes, so you have to collect the tax from patrons. However, some “hosts” (as Airbnb calls them) are not aware of their obligation to collect state and county hotel taxes, or are ignoring it. It is the job of state and county taxing authorities to make theses hosts aware of their obligation to collect the tax from their patrons. My legislation requires online short-term rental companies to register with the state and share the necessary business information with Revenue and county treasurers. This will be a minimal obligation on the part of these companies that will help ensure that conventional hotels and bed and breakfasts are not put at a competitive disadvantage with hosts that do not collect the tax. |
Introduced as HB787