Home rental service Airbnb said in a Tuesday release that it brought in more than $425 million in tourism taxes to the state of Tennessee since 2018.
According to the company, $130 million of that tax revenue was remitted in 2023 alone.
“Airbnb began collecting and remitting state and local sales taxes on behalf of Hosts in Tennessee in 2018,” the release said. “Since then, we’ve championed statewide legislation to create a centralized tax collection system that further streamlines tourism tax collection by allowing platforms to collect and remit all applicable local occupancy taxes on behalf of Hosts across the state.”
The company since the state updated its centralized tax collection system in 2021, there has been a 320 percent increase in the amount of taxes collected through Airbnb.
The bill that updated short-term rental unit marketplaces to update their tax collection system was SB 1778, which became law in 2020 and was enacted in 2021.
State Senator John Stevens (R-Huntington) was the primary sponsor of that bill.
“I’m proud to have championed legislation that streamlines the way Tennessee collects local occupancy taxes on short-term rentals,” he said. “Not only has this model helped reduce administrative costs for local governments, but it has also allowed a key segment of Tennessee’s tourism economy to contribute significantly more tax revenue to cities and counties across the state without increasing tax rates. A win-win for all.”
In 2021, the same year Stevens’ bill was enacted, Tennessee announced record-breaking tourism levels, as reported by The Tennessee Star. That year, the state generated $1.9 billion in state and local tax revenue from travel.
“Tourism drives economic development and job creation so that every Tennessean can thrive. Our decision to prioritize strong recovery has yielded record levels of tourism growth, and we continue to welcome visitors to see all Tennessee has to offer, from the Mississippi River to the Great Smoky Mountains,” Gov. Bill Lee (R) said at the time.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
