Well, After talking to five customer service people, going downtown to Airbnb’s Portland office, and getting turned away, I have just about had it. I had a reservation to start a guest rental from July 1st to July 31st. Airbnb charged her an occupancy tax of $223. The city law here is anything “fewer than 30 days” is classified as a temporary rentals, not 30 days or less. That’s one error.
To figure a new solution, we tried to add a day so we were in the 31-night category. That added over a thousand dollars for the extra night. We could not get any help from customer service. In fact, we got five or five different suggestions, which began with canceling and starting over; this would have penalties.
It seems to me Airbnb is great at wanting the business but poor at actually wanting to fix the problems. Finally a lady got back to me from the Portland office and we figured out why we could not add a day. I had listed two days before and after reservations for cleaning. If a guest needs to stay longer Airbnb’s software should have pushed the cleaning days out. I am going to look for new alternatives to Airbnb. They can afford luxury offices but can’t help fix something with what should have been done with a single phone call.
Indeed, move your property to VRBO or HomeAway. Who needs Airbnb?
Her reservation is for 30 nights. According to the city of Portland STR laws/exemptions she was charged correctly.
Monthly Renter Exemption:
Taken as a deduction on Line 2 of the tax report
Eligible exemptions:
Occupants renting space for more than 30 consecutive calendar days. The guest is eligible for a refund or credit for the 1st 30 days if they stay 31 days or longer without a break. Tax should no longer be charged starting day 31
People who rent a room on a monthly basis and pay all at once for the entire month (regardless of the number of days in such a month).
Source: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/revenue/article/415034#Registration