New Massachusetts short-term-rental tax bill signed into law by MA Gov Baker is pretty complicated.
Key points:
- Each rental unit must be registered with the MA short-term-rental agency.
- "Short-term rental" means up to 31 days.
- State tax is 5.7%.
- Local (town) tax varies by town, up to 6% max. Towns is some counties, but not all, are automatically opted in to this.
- Towns can also opt in to adding a Community Impact Fee of up to 3% to be charged to owners of multiple rental properties.
- Whoever collects the rent is responsible for collecting the tax.
- Landlord must carry at least $1M in liability insurance for each stay unless e.g. Airbnb provides higher coverage.
- Properties rented for fewer than 14 days a year are exempt from the state tax but not from registration and insurance requirements.
- Towns may require their own registration and inspections and assess landlords fees for same.
That's a pretty tough law that creates headaches for landlords, towns and Airbnb (etc.) alike. Will be interesting to watch the implementation. Expect to see a lawsuit from Airbnb.