WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – Plenty of people who visit the north country use vacation rental services like Airbnb. With a new budget on the way, the state is poised to add sales tax to those rentals – something that could be replicated by local governments.
In Jefferson County, the discussion is in its early stages.
Amanda Miller, owner of Lake Ontario Realty, uses Airbnb to rent out a number of properties she owns. Right now, there’s no sales tax. But, that could change. Come April in the state budget, there’s a proposed 4 percent state sales tax.
“An additional tax, I think, would be a negative impact on our tourism and these families that are trying to come stay in the area,” said Miller.
Miller believes an additional tax on tourism would be another hurdle, preventing families from being able to afford vacation and lodging.
“I think most of our clientele are already getting squeezed out with the fees in general, and many apps have been hiking their fees. So, an additional tax, it might just be enough to tip somebody over the edge where they don’t come to the area because it starts to become unaffordable,” she said.
The state proposal is expected to bring in millions of dollars. Some argue a sales tax like this doesn’t hurt local wallets.
“It’s a tax collected from people outside the area, and that helps defer some of the cost that is borne by local residents to support local governments,” said Jefferson County Legislator Scott Gray.
He says a tax on rentals will be mainly paid by people visiting our area, not people from our area.
County leaders are also in early stages of discussing a similar local tax on Airbnbs and other short-term vacation rentals.
Gray says taxing these rentals will also level the playing field for traditional hotels, which are subject to these type of taxes.
“It provides parity across the vacation tourism industry between hotelers and vacation rental providers,” said Gray.
“I don’t think it’s going to level the playing field at all. The whole reason why Airbnb and Vrbo exists is because people can’t bring their whole families, including their pets and loved ones, to a hotel. It’s just simply impossible,” said Miller.
The state’s budget deadline is April 1. As for Jefferson County, Gray says an occupancy tax on short-term vacation rentals is in the discussion and consideration phase.
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