Guests who book a short-term rental inside Denison through Airbnb, Vrbo or Expedia will see the city's 7% hotel occupancy tax added to their bill starting Sunday, Nov. 1, with the platforms passing the money directly to City Hall.
The city posted the details on its hotel occupancy tax page this week, and KTEN reported the change Thursday. City officials stress it is not a new tax and not a higher rate. Denison has required short-term rentals to collect the tax for several years; what changes is who handles the paperwork.
What owners need to know
Under the new setup, owners whose bookings run through a participating platform will no longer need to send the city's share in themselves for those stays. The city says Airbnb and Vrbo hosts will not have to submit monthly reports or payment forms through Avenu, the outside firm Denison has used to track rental tax compliance, for bookings the platforms cover.
The city plans to stop using Avenu for that work.
A few gaps remain, according to the city:
- Direct bookings, and stays booked on sites that do not collect the tax, are still the owner's responsibility, using the city's remittance form.
- Airbnb applies the tax to eligible reservations of 29 nights or fewer, including cleaning fees, and also collects the 6% state hotel tax.
- Expedia's change covers "Expedia Collect" bookings made on or after Nov. 1. "Hotel Collect" bookings are not included.
- Hotels are not part of the change and keep reporting as before.
The city is urging owners to check their platform's tax settings to see which taxes are being collected for them.
