Airbnb, Green Bay: Announce room tax agreement

MEDIA CONTACT:
Ben Breit, Airbnb Midwest
Phone: (847) 274-5456
Email: benjamin.breit@airbnb.com

GREEN BAY – Airbnb, the Midwest’s leading community driven hospitality company, announced today a tax agreement with the City of Green Bay. Mayor Schmitt authorized the voluntary tax collection agreement, which allows Airbnb to collect and remit the Green Bay room tax on behalf of all Airbnb hosts in Green Bay.

With the tax agreement in place, the City can take full economic advantage of the thousands of people visiting Green Bay and staying longer through home sharing. Airbnb will automatically collect and remit the 10% room tax on all Airbnb bookings, making the process seamless and easy for both hosts and the City. Airbnb will begin collecting and remitting on behalf of its Green Bay hosts on August 1 — ahead of the NFL football season.

“We’re pleased to participate in an agreement with Airbnb, and we see this both as an opportunity for visitors to our community and as a revenue source for the city of Green Bay,” said Mayor Schmitt.

Based on past year figures, Airbnb conservatively expects it will annually collect and remit at least $55,000 on behalf of its Green Bay host community.

“Home sharing is already infusing significant economic development for Green Bay by expanding lodging capacity during Packer games and other big weekends,” said Laura Spanjian, Airbnb Midwest Policy Director. “We are passionate about helping to economically empower middle-class Green Bay residents while bringing a brand new revenue stream to the City.”

Collecting and remitting hotel taxes can be incredibly complicated. The rules were designed for traditional hospitality providers and large hotel corporations with teams of lawyers and accountants. For this reason, Airbnb has partnered with hundreds of governments throughout the world to collect and remit taxes, contributing new revenue for local comptrollers and tax collectors in the process.

Green Bay is the second Wisconsin city to collaborate with Airbnb on an occupancy tax agreement, following Madison earlier this year. Earlier this month, Airbnb announced a statewide tax agreement with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue that allows the company to collect and remit the sales tax as well as other taxes that are assessed at the state level.

The agreement comes at a time of dynamic home sharing growth within Green Bay, which is the third-largest home sharing market in Wisconsin (behind only Madison and Milwaukee). Airbnb’s host community has grown even in the midst of a hotel boom in the city — with peaking occupancy rates for Green Bay hotels — demonstrating the strong demand amongst travelers seeking to authentically experience the City.

Airbnb in Green Bay
– 130 active hosts
– 3,500 guest arrivals to Green Bay via Airbnb in 2016, representing 155% year-over-year growth
Green Bay hosts earned $603,000 in supplemental income in 2016 through Airbnb
– Typical Green Bay host earns $4,700 annually through Airbnb
– 39% of Green Bay Airbnb listings are simply extra, unused rooms in a host’s home (i.e. empty nester)
Typical Airbnb Green Bay listing is rented out 1.5 days per month

About Airbnb
Founded in 2008, Airbnb’s mission is to create a world where people can belong when they travel by being connected to local cultures and having unique travel experiences. Its community marketplace provides access to millions of unique accommodations from apartments and villas to castles and treehouses in more than 50,000 cities and 191 countries.