Airbnb reaches agreement with Missouri Dept. of Revenue

Lois Hogan owns the building at 530 E. High St., shown here in September 2017, that is used for temporary stays and can be booked online. It has rooms that can be rented for a few days, a week, month or several months, depending on your needs.
Lois Hogan owns the building at 530 E. High St., shown here in September 2017, that is used for temporary stays and can be booked online. It has rooms that can be rented for a few days, a week, month or several months, depending on your needs.

Airbnb announced Wednesday it has reached an agreement with the Missouri Department of Revenue to collect state and local sales taxes on person-to-person rentals statewide.

Under the agreement, Airbnb will collect the state's 4.2 percent state sales tax and a handful of smaller local and county sales taxes on behalf of renters. The company has similar agreements with about 350 local and state governments nationwide, including state sales tax agreements with Missouri border states Iowa, Kansas, Illinois, Kentucky and Arkansas.

"We are proud to have collaborated on this agreement, and we believe this can serve as a model for other states," Airbnb Midwest policy director Laura Spanjian said in a news release.

Airbnb will also collect city sales taxes ranging from 0.25-1.375 percent, city sales taxes ranging from 0.25-0.5 percent, county sales taxes ranging from 0.12-0.5 percent, a tourism water quality tax of 0.25 percent, separate tourism taxes of 0.5-5 percent and local sales taxes of 1 percent.

San Francisco-based Airbnb allows users to rent rooms in their homes, cottages or other properties to users looking to stay at alternatives to hotels. Last year, approximately 289,000 guests stayed at Airbnb rentals in Missouri, creating revenues of $28.9 million, according to a December news release.

Of those guests, 1,050 stayed in rooms in Jefferson City, generating $111,000 in revenue.

Under previous zoning laws, Jefferson City residents could not legally rent out short-term rentals because the city could not collect the city's lodging tax on the properties. However, the Jefferson City Council approved an ordinance Tuesday night legalizing the practice within the city and forces property owners renting one room to pay the city's 7 percent lodging tax. Short-term rentals will be allowed in commercial and mixed-use zoning districts, but property owners must get a permit approved by the Jefferson City Planning and Zoning commission.

Spanjian said in the news release the company is open to making other agreements with municipalities and the company supports Columbia's ongoing efforts to tax short-term rentals.

"We are dedicated to finalizing additional agreements to collect and remit taxes with Missouri municipalities," Spanjian said.

Margie Mueller, Jefferson City's director of finance, said the property owner is responsible for collecting and paying the 7 percent lodging tax. Airbnb could choose to do that for property owners, but the company has not had discussions with the city at this point.

The city's plan also limits short-term rental stays to a single room or basement for less than a month. Because Airbnb operates in cities around the world, Airbnb Midwest spokesman Ben Breit told the News Tribune in December users must know their local laws.

"This platform is in tens of thousands of cities right now, so everyone has different laws," Breit said. "What we tell hosts when they join is you've got to know the local law."

Jefferson City Senior Planner Eric Barron said Tuesday the city soon will reach out to property owners operating short-term rentals to get them in compliance with the ordinance.

News Tribune reporter Nicole Roberts contributed to this article.