Bill > A4048

Introduced Session

This bill imposes the sales and use tax and a transient accommodation fee on charges for providing space for the accommodation of transient guests in a residence or other residential unit by persons engaged in the business of providing space for accommodation through a transient space marketplace. Additionally, the bill authorizes certain municipalities to impose a transient accommodation tax on certain charges for providing space for the accommodation of transient guests. The purpose of this bill is to extend current State and local taxes on hotel and motel occupancies to certain other short-term stays at residential units in this State that have become more accessible for temporary occupancies through the development of web-based short-term rental platforms that facilitate the reservation of and payment for spaces made available for accommodation. Under current law, the State imposes a sales and use tax and a hotel and motel occupancy fee (at a rate of 7% and 5%, respectively) on the rent for each occupancy of a room or rooms in a hotel in this State. Further, current law authorizes municipalities to impose a local hotel occupancy tax (with varying rates of up to 6%). Current law, however, does not impose the taxes and fees, or other similar taxes and fees, on short-term rentals for occupancies that occur in other types of real property, such as the rental of a spare bedroom in an apartment or the lease of living or sleeping spaces in a single-family house. This bill subjects charges for providing space for the accommodation of transient guests in a residence or other residential unit through a transient space marketplace in this State to the sales and use tax (7%), a transient accommodation fee (5%), and authorizes a municipality to impose a transient accommodation tax (3%). Under the bill, the lease or rental of a space for the accommodation of a transient guest through a marketplace is subject to the same taxes and fees as the lease or rental of a room or rooms in a hotel in this State. The bill limits the imposition of the taxes and fee to taxable space for accommodation of a transient guest that is provided by a person engaged in the business of providing space for accommodation. To be engaged in business, the bill stipulates that a person must be engaged in the business of providing space for accommodation to the public as a business activity through the placement of an advertisement, or the listing of the space for accommodation, with a transient space marketplace, and must have cumulative gross receipts from charges for providing space for accommodation to transient guests in this State in excess of $1,000 during the preceding four calendar quarters. The bill treats permanent residents and charitable, non-profit organizations that lease or rent space for accommodation in line with how those individuals and organizations are treated for purposes of hotel and motel occupancies. The bill provides that charges for providing space for accommodation to a permanent resident are not subject to tax or fee, and provides that charitable, non-profit organizations (that have been granted tax immunity authorization) are exempt from tax and fee collection responsibilities when providing space for accommodation in furtherance of the purposes for which it was organized.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Annette Quijano (D)*,  Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee (on 09/08/2016)