Florida counties rake in tax revenue from Airbnb hosts for second year in a row
Airbnb hosts paid more than $10 million in taxes to Miami-Dade County in 2018, up from $8.4 million in 2017, the company reported Monday.
Airbnb signed deals with Miami-Dade and Broward counties in 2017 to collect taxes from the 12,800 hosts there and give the money to the counties. At the time the counties estimated they would receive $6 million and $1 million, respectively, but changes to the tax laws and the site’s increase in popularity has them raking in much more. Broward earned $5.2 million from Airbnb hosts via its deal in 2018, up from $3.7 million in 2017.
Aribnb has similar deals with the state of Florida and 38 other counties. The state of Florida received $62.5 million from Airbnb host taxes last year, and the counties, including Miami-Dade and Broward, received a combined $27 million.
Rival short term rental site HomeAway has a similar arrangement. HomeAway signed a tax deal with Broward County in December 2017 and has entered agreements with 28 other Florida counties and the state of Florida since October 2018. Expedia, the parent company of HomeAway and VRBO, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about how much money the companies remitted to the state and counties in 2018.
Short term rental platforms continue to spark controversy in municipalities working to keep them out, with Airbnb, the most popular site, at the forefront of the debate. Hosts in Miami Beach still face $20,000 in fines for renting their properties, although some hosts there are suing.
Despite the controversy, Airbnb continues to grow in popularity. There are 45,000 Airbnb hosts in the state, a 40 percent increase since 2016. Florida hosts earned a combined $810 million last year while providing accommodations to 4.5 million guests, according to Airbnb.
This story was originally published January 28, 2019 at 2:54 PM.
