The 2015-2016 legislative session ended at midnight last night with several key bills ready to present to Governor Baker for his signature. Notably absent from the $700M economic development bill was the proposal to apply the state hotel and motel tax to lodging such as AirBnB and vacation rentals!
Thank you to all of you homeowners who reached out to your state legislators to tell your story about the potential consequences of this tax extension. The tax would have added up to 12% to your rental rates and negatively impacted the Cape and Islands tourist industry and even vacation home sales.
Undoubtedly, the bill will come up again next January, and we all need to be prepared. It will be important for us to differentiate our vacation rental homes on the Cape and Islands from AirBnB units in Boston and other urban areas, which are in direct competition with hotels. We will continue to keep you posted, but congratulations to all!
Great news! If there is no tax on lodging, then property owner can save more money. Thank you for sharing this information.
If anyone has suggestions on how to
Prepate for another legislative round in 2017, please let us all know. We are not Airbnb. We are Cape Cod folks, and any establishment who will help explain our story might want to hear it…
Joan, great points on differentiating vacation rental markets from other short term rental markets.
Karen, I’d suggest finding some tangible data to support the case that vacation rental stimulate the local and state economies to a noteworthy magnitude.
You can also track short term regulation news here: http://www.rented.com/short-term-rental-regulations/