May. 24, 2018
HARRISBURG – To keep up with the new ways people book overnight lodging, the House Tourism and Recreational Development Committee approved today legislation by Rep. Doyle Heffley (R-Carbon) to ensure online rental websites, such as Airbnb and Homeaway, are paying their taxes like their competitors.
“As it stands now, bed and breakfasts and hotels are taxed the room tax imposed by counties, but there is no way to ensure newly created rental sites are registering lodgings to ensure they are also paying the taxes,” Heffley said. “This bill does not create any new taxes. Rather, it ensures our tax code keeps up with ever-evolving technology.”
House Bill 1810 would require online hosting platforms that facilitate the booking of overnight lodging, such as Airbnb and HomeAway, to register with the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. The registration would allow counties and state government to better collect the hotel occupancy taxes from patrons, and hosting platforms would not be able to facilitate the booking of lodging until they are registered.
This bill would not create any new taxes: rather, it would ensure the payment and facilitate the collection of the local county hotel room tax from patrons, which is used to promote local tourism.
“My bill simply levels the playing field to ensure hosting platforms remit the same taxes as bed and breakfasts and hotels,” Heffley said.
The bill now goes to the full House for consideration.
Representative Doyle Heffley
122nd District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Greg Gross
717.260.6374
ggross@pahousegop.com
RepHeffley.com /
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