Talk of The Villages Florida - View Single Post - Sumter County Tourist Tax Referendum - Vote YES!
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Originally Posted by charlie1 View Post
Just got the mail ballot and it does not explain the Tourism Tax the county wants to re-instate. I know it is not much for people that do AIRBNB etc but an additional 2% is at least something! Wish it was a graduated scale with short term rentals being taxed at a significantly higher rate!

Anyway, all the proceeds go to the Tourism Commission which allocates the money based on applications submitted by groups within the county.

Anyway, for those that do not know the details, here is a summary!

According to Sumter County's proposal, the 2% tax applies to transient rentals of six months or less. It is paid by the guest/renter, not directly by county residents unless they rent qualifying lodging themselves.

Examples include:

Hotels and motels
Campgrounds and RV parks
Bed-and-breakfasts
Condominiums rented short-term
Short-term vacation rentals (such as Airbnb and **** properties)
Mobile home parks and other temporary lodging accommodations

The tax would apply to the rental charges and certain mandatory fees, including:

Room or rental rates
Mandatory cleaning fees
Non-refundable pet fees
Resort or amenity fees


IT DOES NOT APPLY TO:

Ordinary retail purchases
Restaurant meals
Gasoline
Property taxes
Long-term rentals exceeding six months
Lodging transactions that are exempt from Florida transient rental sales tax
…until people stop visiting then what? If you haven’t booked a hotel in Orlando or on the beach, you cannot know how much resort fees and taxes have increased in those areas. It may work out for a place like Sumter County for a while. One doesn’t know until the goose is dead, then it’s difficult to recover.
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