COACHELLA – The City of Coachella and Airbnb are excited to announce a new tax agreement that will allow Airbnb to collect and remit taxes on behalf of hosts and guests.
Starting May 1, Airbnb will begin collecting the 9% Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) on behalf of hosts. Guests will be charged the appropriate taxes on their Airbnb bill and the company will then remit to the City of Coachella the taxes collected.
With this agreement, the City of Coachella joins a list of more than 275 jurisdictions globally where Airbnb is collecting and remitting hotel taxes on behalf of hosts and guests. Agreements like this one allow states, cities and countries to rightfully benefit in the economic impact of home sharing while also making it easier for Airbnb hosts, the vast majority of whom are middle class people sharing their own home, to comply with local tax laws.
“This is an important partnership for our city as we continue to market ourselves as a tourism destination,” said Bill Pattison, Coachella’s city manager. Last year, the city collected more than $6,700 in TOT from local residents renting out their homes.
“Our community of hosts want to pay their fair share,” said Marisa Moret, public policy manager for Airbnb. “Our hosts in Coachella are committed to being good neighbors and strengthening their community, while earning extra income year-round.”
To date, Airbnb has remitted over $240 million in hotel, tourist and occupancy taxes to more than 275 cities and communities around the world.
About Coachella
With a population of 45,407, Coachella is a business friendly city with the Coachella Valley’s youngest demographic as well as the valley’s largest concentration of undeveloped land. Coachella is also the epicenter of Hispanic culture in the Coachella Valley, offering some of western Riverside County’s most unique restaurants and cultural events. Coachella, in fact, has one of the largest El Grito / Fiestas Patrias celebrations in Southern California with live music, folkloric dancers and a reenactment of Mexico’s call for independence from Spain. Visit www.coachella.org for more information.
About Airbnb
Founded in 2008, Airbnb’s mission is to create a world where people can belong when they travel by being connected to local cultures and having unique travel experiences. Its community marketplace provides access to millions of unique accommodations from apartments and villas to castles and treehouses in more than 34,000 cities and 191 countries.