Airbnb - Am I Eligible for Pass Through Taxes?

Owned by Ryan Beagley-Reiner
Last updated: Sept 19, 2024
6 min read

This article outlines steps for identifying if your property is eligible for Airbnb’s Passthrough Taxes.

 

What are Pass Through Taxes?

The Pass Through Tax feature from Airbnb allows properties in some locations to show taxes broken out from a guest perspective on Airbnb, instead of those tax amounts being bundled into the rent & fees like you may have previously experienced. The benefits of this are that this tax is not subject to Airbnb commission and it makes for easier and cleaner tax collection.

TAX INFORMATION AND SUPPORT

Bluetent cannot assist in determining Pass Through Tax eligibility outside of the information provided in this article. Because Airbnb is consistently updating the Airbnb Host portal UI, some of these steps (and screenshots) may no longer be accurate.
If you are unsure on what taxes (if any) are collected by Airbnb in your area or if you are eligible for Pass Through Taxes, we suggest filing a ticket with Airbnb Support and consulting a trained tax professional.

In the meantime, you can set up taxes as Included in Rent and Fees.

Airbnb Articles About Tax Collection

Checking Listings for Eligibility

If you are unsure of eligibility and want to check, remember that Pass Through Tax eligibility is per property and can vary based on property/location. Each property should be validated for tax eligibility. If you set up pass through taxes on an ineligible property, these taxes will be bundled into rent and fees.

A valid TOT number is required for each tax in order to use Pass Through Taxes, per tax set up in your PMS system. 

If you do not know your TOT or tax ID, you need to talk with your accountant and we recommend you do not enable pass through taxes until you have this information.

A valid business ID is also required in order to enable Pass Through Taxes in your settings menu. For US-based hosts, this is your EIN number. Airbnb suggests that hosts reference this article for more details on these fields https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2523  

Below will explain the 4 potential tax scenarios and how to check a listing for which scenario applies to each.

The 4 Tax Scenarios

Airbnb properties have 4 different scenarios that will tell you if a property is Pass Through Tax eligible:

  • Ineligible - property cannot use pass through taxes, and that Airbnb does not collect or remit any taxes on behalf of the property manager

  • No tax collected by Airbnb - Airbnb does not collect or remit any taxes on their behalf, but the property is eligible for pass through taxes

  • Airbnb collects and remits some taxes on hosts behalf - Airbnb collects and remits some taxes on hosts behalf, but host may opt OUT of Airbnb tax collection and opt INTO pass through taxes

  • Airbnb collects and remits most or all taxes - Airbnb collects and remits most or all taxes on hosts behalf in accordance to this article Taxes - Airbnb Help Center and what Airbnb sees as the taxes required in this geographical area.

Checking listing eligibility from the Airbnb interface

The following steps will walk you through determining your Pass Through Tax eligibility for each listing.

  1. Log into your Airbnb Professional Hosting Account 

  2. Go to your Listings page (if logged in, click on https://www.airbnb.com/hosting/listings

  3. Select a listing

  4. Click on Pricing and availability on the left-hand side of the page

  5. Look for Taxes underneath Additional charges in the left hand toolbar

    1. If Taxes does not show, this means that the listing is ineligible for Pass Through Taxes AND Airbnb does not collect or remit taxes for the area. Taxes should be bundled into rate and fees using the the standard Tax Mapping set up - (Bundle in Rent and Fees).

    2. If there is a Taxes option, that means that you are eligible to set up Pass Through Taxes and fall into one of the 3 other categories listed below. 

  6. Select Taxes

  7. Based on your tax eligibility category, the screen that shows will vary. See below for details. 

Listings that do qualify for Pass Through Taxes will have a Taxes option under Pricing and Availability

Listings that do NOT qualify for Pass Through Taxes will not have a Taxes option under Pricing and Availability

 

No tax collected by Airbnb, but property is eligible for Pass Through Taxes

 

Airbnb does not collect or remit any taxes on host's behalf, and that the property is eligible for Pass Through Taxes. In this case, the host can decide to either bundle their taxes into their room rate, or to turn on Pass Through Taxes in the settings in Boost. 

If utilizing Pass Through Taxes, taxes will then be sent to Airbnb and appear as line items to the guest. 

Reservations will pass back the tax amount paid, and hosts will be 100% responsible for paying and reporting those tax amounts.  

If all of your properties are set this way, ask your implementation specialist to help you set up Pass Through Taxes in Boost.


Airbnb collects and remits some taxes on hosts behalf

 

Airbnb collects and remits some taxes on host's behalf, but that the user may opt OUT of Airbnb tax collection and opt INTO Pass Through Taxes. 

In this case, the host can decide if these taxes are enough for them, or if they want to disable this function by using Pass Through Taxes. If the user enabled Pass Through Taxes in Boost, this will stop Airbnb collecting and remitting the taxes already set up.

If the property manager wants to have Airbnb collect and remit this specific tax(es), but still send taxes to Airbnb bundled into their rates and fees, then they would not enable Pass Through Taxes in Boost. 

Most users in this case will decide to use Pass Through Taxes and collect all taxes themselves.

Airbnb collects and remits most or all taxes

 

Airbnb collects and remits most or all taxes on their behalf in accordance to this article Taxes - Airbnb Help Center and what Airbnb sees as the taxes required in this geographical area. 

In most cases, the user will not need to add any other taxes. However, if the user does opt into Pass Through Taxes, these taxes will be "Stacked" (i.e., added to the taxes that the guest pays). The taxes that Airbnb collects and remits will continue to be collected and remitted. 

Still Not Sure? 

If you're still unsure, we recommend utilize the default Tax Mapping option - Bundle in Rent and Fees 

Learn more about Pass Through Tax & Airbnb tax information, in the following Airbnb help center articles: