Lodging tax to include vacation rental homes

Bend.com news sources
Posted: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 7:58 PM
SALEM — Oregon's lodging tax will change January 1. Homeowners who rent out their vacation homes need to know how the new law will affect them, the Oregon Department of Revenue announced.
The 2005 Legislature passed a law that changes the state lodging tax. Before this new law, the lodging tax applied only to hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, RV park spaces, resorts, inns, cabins, condominiums, duplexes, and some short-term rental apartments. Beginning January 1, the law will include vacation rental houses, tent spaces and yurts in private and public campgrounds, and any other unit, or portion of a unit, used for short-term vacation, business, or recreational purposes.

If you own a vacation home that you rent out, you must register with the Oregon Department of Revenue. Registration forms are available online at www.oregon.gov/DOR/BUS. You also must collect the lodging tax from your customers when they pay you the vacation rental fee. You must pay the tax quarterly to the Oregon Department of Revenue. The tax is 1 percent of gross lodging sales.

There are several exemptions to this tax, including dwelling units that provide lodging for less than 30 days in a calendar year. For example: A hunting lodge that is open only for a season that is less than 30 days. Also, nonprofit youth or church camps, nonprofit conference centers, certain qualifying nonprofit facilities, and lodgers who spend at least 30 consecutive days at the same facility also are exempt.

"A portion of this lodging tax goes back to the area it was collected from," said Doneva Miletta, state lodging tax program coordinator. "The statewide lodging tax is different from city and county lodging taxes because those fund a variety of local programs. This tax promotes tourism throughout Oregon."