Disclaimer: this post is neither legal nor tax advice. Consult a competent professional regarding both matters prior to action. Below is simply a summariy and links to government documents and information from Airbnb below for quick reference.
Two tax types are applicable in New Mexico for Short Term Rentals: Gross Receipts Tax and Lodger’s Tax. This article focuses on Gross Receipts Tax.
Gross Receipts Tax:
Gross Receipts are collected by the New Mexico Taxation & Revenue Department and are due on Gross Receipts of Vacation Rentals. The rates vary by location of your rental.
Depending upon your use of online platforms for reservations and sales, you may be considered a “Marketplace Sellers.” According to the NM TRD, marketplace sellers “are individuals or businesses that use marketplaces to sell to buyers.”
Meanwhile, Marketplace Providers “are individuals or businesses that facilitate the sale, lease, or license of tangible personal property, or services or licenses for use of real property, on behalf of marketplace sellers, or on their own behalf.”
The New Mexico TRD states, “Marketplace sellers required to file a gross receipts tax return may take the deduction on the same return in which they report their receipts, the Form TRD-41413, Gross Receipts Tax Return. If all receipts of the marketplace seller are deductible, the result will be that no tax is owed by the seller, though the reporting is still required. Note: It is still important for the marketplace seller to file a timely return when required or late filing penalty will be assessed.”
Airbnb and VRBO state that they collect this tax on your behalf. Consult a Tax Professional on what records would assist you to demonstrate this in the future.
- Airbnb states that, “guests who book Airbnb listings that are located in New Mexico…will pay the following taxes as part of their reservation: Gross Receipts Tax: 5.125% – 8.6875% of the listing price including any cleaning fees and guest fees for reservations 30 nights and shorter.” When you make a reservation or print records of transactions from Airbnb, you will see the amount collected by Airbnb.
- VRBO states that they collect Municipal, County, and State gross receipts tax. You can also view this in transaction summaries.
- As of 2024, Booking.com does not appear to pay any taxes on your behalf. As a result, you should collect and pay taxes for the bookings yourself.
You can register for an account and read more about Gross Receipts Tax here:
https://www.tax.newmexico.gov/businesses/gross-receipts-overview/
For more information on marketplace rules, New Mexico TRD has published: a FYI overview of marketplace rules and guidance specific to vacation rentals B.200.37: “Marketplace Providers and the Sale of Lodgings or Accommodations”.
A special note about Santa Fe County: Some platforms appear to have wrongly categorized properties as Santa Fe City rather than County for some time. It appears in some cases, this has now been cleared up but if your rates are still off, you can provide evidence to Airbnb which will, in our experience, eventually update your taxing locality.