Income taxes are due April 15. Do you know when your vacation rental taxes are due?

Even if you don’t know much about taxes, you probably know this: United States federal income tax returns are due April 15.

However, if you’re a short-term rental host, income tax is probably not the only tax return deadline you have to deal with. Most short-term rental operators are also required to collect lodging taxes from their guests, file tax returns, and pay the tax to authorities.

Do you know what date your lodging tax return is due? If you answered April 15, you may be right — but probably not. This is because vacation rental taxes are very local in nature, in contrast to federal income taxes, which apply to every taxpayer in the country.

Location, location, location

Each local jurisdiction, from the town or city level up to the county and state, may have different rules for the lodging taxes short-term rental hosts must collect. As a short-term rental operator, it’s crucial for you to know which jurisdictions govern your rental and to understand the requirements that apply to you.

These local rules stipulate how often vacation rental owners are required to file and pay these taxes and what the due dates are. While some short-term rental tax returns may be due only once a year, many short-term rental hosts will have several due dates every year, not just one.

Going back to the April 15 date, the local nature of short-term rental taxes means that if your tax authority requires you to file a lodging tax return annually, and if that jurisdiction happens to choose April 15 as the due date, your guess of April 15 would be correct.

Most likely, though, you’ll file your short-term rental lodging tax returns several times per year. Many jurisdictions require monthly or quarterly filing, and the deadline that applies to you may depend on how much tax you collect and pay. If you collect more in taxes, you may be required to file more often.

Keep in mind that not all jurisdictions coordinate, so you may have to register with several different tax jurisdictions, collect taxes for each of them, and file different returns for each. This can mean you have several filing deadlines in any given year.

When Airbnb collects taxes for you

Airbnb, HomeAway, and VRBO can collect taxes for their short-term rental hosts at the time the guest pays — but only in some jurisdictions. And while these platforms take care of collecting the tax for you and paying it to tax authorities, they usually don’t register for you with tax authorities or file returns on your behalf. Platforms such as Airbnb normally pay all the taxes they collect in a jurisdiction in a lump sum to the tax authorities without identifying which hosts paid what.

In many jurisdictions, you’re still required to register with tax authorities and file regular returns, even if your short-term rental platform collects and pays the tax for you. When you file your returns, you’ll report your short-term rental income and how much tax was collected and paid for you. This means that knowing your short-term rental tax filing deadlines is still important even if the tax is collected for you.

One city, many different due dates

For example, if you operate a short-term rental in Denver, Colorado, you’re responsible for registering for a city Lodger’s Tax license and collecting city lodging tax, which is 10.75 percent of the cost of the stay.

You’re also responsible for filing Lodger’s Tax returns with the city and paying any tax you’ve collected. These returns may be filed on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis, depending on the average amount of lodging tax you’ve owed in the past six months.

• If you file monthly, your tax filing due date would be the 20th of the month following the taxable month.
• If you file quarterly, your returns would be due April 20, July 20, October 20, and January 20.
• If you file annually, your tax filing deadline would be January 20 following the taxable year.

In Denver, you’re required to register and file regular Lodger’s Tax returns even if your short-term rental platform collects and pays the tax for you.

Meanwhile, the state of Colorado also levies sales tax on Denver lodging at a rate of 4 percent. This means you must also apply for a sales tax license with the state and file sales tax returns. Your filing frequency depends on how much sales tax you collect monthly and can be monthly, quarterly, or annually.

• Similar to Denver, if you file monthly, your tax filing due date would be the 20th of the month following the taxable month.
• If you file quarterly, your returns would be due April 20, July 20, October 20, and January 20.
• If you file annually, your tax filing deadline would be January 20 following the taxable year.

However, keep in mind that the city and state are different entities, so even though they may have similar due dates, you must file each return separately to the proper authority.

Hit your short-term rental tax filing deadlines every time

As a short-term rental operator, keeping up with which tax has to be filed where and when can be a time-consuming chore — and it can be easy to make mistakes with manual processes. Services such as MyLodgeTax can automate lodging tax filing for you so your short-term rental taxes are filed on time, every time.