MAYVILLE — Airbnb has finalized a new tax agreement with Chautauqua County, which will allow the company to collect and remit hotel and motel room tax on behalf of hosts who have listings across the county.

With the new agreement, Airbnb will now collect and remit taxes in 31 counties statewide.

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 over 400 local governments throughout the U.S. to collect and remit taxes, making the process seamless and easy for hosts to pay their fair share while contributing new revenue for local governments.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Chautauqua County and to help introduce more efficient hotel tax collection and remittance, as similar agreements have for the many other New York counties enjoying this tax revenue,” said Alex Dagg, senior policy director for Airbnb. “We are proud to be a local partner to these counties and look forward to working with many more to ensure the economic potential of home sharing can benefit every corner of the Empire State.”

“I am excited about the new agreement with Airbnb,” said Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel. “This arrangement will help streamline our collection process, improve compliance, and bring in incremental revenue to Chautauqua County. I see this as a benefit to the County, property owners, and those visiting Chautauqua County.”

Effective today, Airbnb will collect and remit the hotel and motel room tax on taxable Airbnb stays in Chautauqua County. By doing so, Airbnb will make the process seamless for hosts while providing a valuable source of revenue to the county.

“The tourism industry has been hit especially hard during the pandemic,” said Mark Geise, deputy county executive for economic development and CEO of the county IDA. “The additional revenue will help us further support our tourism industry and preserve our lakes and waterways.”

The county joins 30 other New York counties: Allegany County, Broome County, Cattaraugus County, Cayuga County, Clinton County, Cortland County, Delaware County, Dutchess County, Essex County, Franklin County, Fulton County, Livingston County, Monroe County, Montgomery County, Onondaga County, Orange County, Orleans County, Otsego County, Rensselaer County, Schenectady County, Schuyler County, Schoharie County, Seneca County, St. Lawrence County, Steuben County, Sullivan County, Tompkins County, Washington County, Westchester County and Wyoming County.

“The continuing growth and popularity of online travel booking services like Airbnb makes it essential that we engage with them as partners. This new arrangement will help ensure that Airbnb helps Chautauqua County in the process of providing funds necessary for attracting more visitors and overnight guests to the area in the future,” said Andrew Nixon, president/CEO, Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau.

Airbnb has long supported measures that would extend existing sales and hotel and motel room taxes to short-term rentals and authorize platforms like Airbnb to collect and remit such taxes Statewide.

Additional information about Chautauqua County’s Occupancy Tax, local law and the uses of Occupancy Tax in Chautauqua County can be found on the County website: https://chqgov.com/live-work-play/Tax-Registration-Forms.