Airbnb delivers more than $10B in tourism taxes on behalf of Hosts

Airbnb Hosts around the world have welcomed more than 1.5 billion guest arrivals. By opening up their homes, Hosts can provide affordable accommodation options for guests, help communities reap the economic benefits from travel, and generate billions in economic activity and tax revenue for local communities. Since 2014, we’ve worked with governments around the world to help Hosts with the collection and remittance of tourism taxes.

We’re proud to share that we have collected and remitted more than $10 billion in tourism-related taxes to governments on behalf of our global Host community. Cities leverage these tourism tax dollars to fund various initiatives – from destination marketing to critical services such as police, infrastructure, and libraries. 

As jurisdictions in the US and Canada manage budget deficits, the tourism taxes generated by stays on Airbnb continue to be a valuable source of revenue for many communities. In 2023 alone, Hosts in the US and Canada generated approximately $2.4 billion USD in tourism taxes – that includes $2.2 billion in the US and $319 million in Canada respectively.¹ 

Below is a snapshot of the total tourism taxes collected and remitted on behalf of Hosts in 2023: 

Our support for sensible tax collection policies

Airbnb is a leader in advocating for solutions that allow short-term rental platforms to collect and remit tourism taxes on behalf of Hosts— initially through Voluntary Collection Agreements (VCAs) and more recently by working with lawmakers on streamlined centralized tax collection laws.

Laws mandating centralized collection of local taxes by short-term rental platforms ensure all short-term platforms collect and remit tourism taxes on behalf of Hosts at scale while making it easier for local governments to collect a number of taxes, including sales taxes, tourism taxes, and local accommodation taxes. 

As more communities welcome their first Airbnb guests and localities face mounting budget challenges, streamlined tax collection systems are more important than ever to help ensure cities and states more efficiently collect all applicable tourism taxes. In general, governments tend to see more revenue when they implement practical rules that allow platforms to collect and remit taxes on behalf of Hosts. For example, after Tennessee and Arizona passed legislation to implement centralized tax collection systems, Tennessee saw an increase of approximately 320 percent² in the amount of taxes collected. 

Whether we’re collecting and remitting taxes on behalf of our Hosts, or streamlining the collection process into a growing source of revenue for emerging travel hubs, we’ll continue to work closely with governments to unlock the full potential of citizen-led tourism and travel.