Sarasota County enters agreement with Airbnb

The Sarasota County Tax Collector entered an agreement with short-term rental service Airbnb, the county announced in a press release Monday.

The Sarasota County Commission approved the agreement on Monday. Starting May 1, the Sarasota County Tax Collector’s office will be responsible for the reporting, collection and remittance of the applicable tourist development tax, often referred to as the “bed tax.”

“We are pleased to have reached this agreement in collaboration with Tax Collector Barbara Ford-Coates,” Sarasota County Administrator Tom Harmer said in the release. “This is an important revenue source the county uses to promote tourism and encourage economic growth for the benefit of our residents.”

Based on 2016 data, Airbnb indicated that bed tax revenue from bookings made in Sarasota County on the Airbnb platform was approximately $355,000, according to the release.

Last year, the Manatee County Tax Collector’s office declined to enter an agreement with Airbnb.

“According to Airbnb, their estimate was $1.4 million in bookings for Manatee County,” Michele Schulz of the Manatee County Tax Collector’s office said in October. “When we take that and (convert) it to tourist taxes, it’s between $70,000 and $71,000. The total (net) amount collected was $11 million-something, so that’s less than 1 percent of the total amount we’re collecting.”

The Sarasota agreement “levels the playing field” for short-term rentals in Sarasota County, said the county’s Tax Collector Barbara Ford-Coates.

Airbnb has entered into voluntary collection agreements with the Florida Department of Revenue, which collects for 22 counties that do not collect their own tax, as well as individual agreements with Pinellas, Hillsborough, Polk and Orange counties, per the release.

This story was originally published April 3, 2017 at 1:41 PM with the headline "Sarasota County enters agreement with Airbnb."