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Airbnb collects and remits over $9 million in taxes and fees to Chicago in 2021

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CHICAGO – Through our partnership with the City of Chicago, Airbnb announced today that we collected and remitted over $9 million in taxes and fees to the city in 2021, including over $3.5 million in support of fighting homelessness and nearly $2 million in support of the city’s domestic violence initiatives, both causes which increased in need for support amidst the pandemic. 

Chicago was one of our first major tax collection partners, having first formed an agreement in early 2015 to collect and remit the city’s hotel accommodations tax. Then in July 2016, we agreed to further our support of the city by collecting and remitting a 4% surcharge on all guest bookings in Chicago to directly fund services that support or help find housing for the homeless in the city. 

In 2018, we again stepped up in our agreement to collect and remit a 2% surcharge on all guest bookings in the city, funds which directly support services for domestic violence victims. Unlike local hotels, we collect and remit these cause-based surcharges along with the full hotel tax. 
Read more about: City Portal, Taxes

About Airbnb

Airbnb was born in 2007 when two Hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 4 million Hosts who have welcomed more than 1 billion guest arrivals across over 220 countries and regions. Travel on Airbnb keeps more of the financial benefits of tourism with the people and places that make it happen. Airbnb has generated billions of dollars in earnings for Hosts, most of whom are individuals listing the homes in which they live. Among Hosts who report their gender, more than half are women, and one in five employed Hosts are either teachers or healthcare workers. Travel on Airbnb also has generated more than $4 billion in tax revenue around the world. Airbnb has helped advance more than 1,000 regulatory frameworks for short-term rentals, including in 80% of our top 200 geographies. In late 2020, to support our continued expansion and diversification, we launched the City Portal to provide governments with a one-stop shop that supports data sharing and compliance with local registration rules. We continue to invest in innovations and tools to support our ongoing work with governments around the world to advance travel that best serves communities.

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