Airbnb and VRBO are collecting and remitting the 1% state-wide transient room tax for all participating Kentucky hosts. Effective January 1, 2023, these online platforms are
also required to report and pay the local transient room tax based upon total
charges for rentals, including service fees. If doing business exclusively with Airbnb or VRBO, businesses do not need to maintain a state Transient Room Tax account.
A new version of the Transient Room Tax Return will be available for the January 31, 2023, filing period with the following changes:
All Transient Room Tax returns must now be filed online using
KY Business One Stop Portal.
With your single user name and password for One Stop, you will not only maintain your business information, you will also be able to file Transient Room Tax returns in one convenient place. To file electronically in the E-file system, you will need One Stop access to your business. If you do not already have access, use the "Link My Business" option on the One Stop dashboard. This registration will also give access for filing your Sales & Use Tax returns in E-file.
An E-file quick start guide with more detailed instruction is available on our webpage. Click
here to view the E-file quick start guide.
For specific information concerning the Transient Room Tax, please call the Excise Tax Section at (502)-564-6823 or email at
Dor.WebResponseExciseTax@ky.gov.
KRS Chapter 142 - Section 400 creates a transient room tax (lodging tax) at the rate of 1
percent of the rent, on every occupancy of any suite, room, rooms,
cabins, lodgings, campsites, or other accommodations charged by any hotel,
motel, inn, tourist camp, tourist cabin, campground, recreational vehicle park,
or other place in which accommodations are regularly furnished to transients
for a consideration or by any person that facilitates the rental of the
accommodations by brokering, coordinating, or in any other way arranging for
the rental of the accommodations for consideration.
The transient room tax is in addition to the current 6 percent sales tax, and any locally assessed transient room tax, and will be reported separately each month.
For the purposes of state sales tax calculations, the 1 percent transient room tax should be reported as part of taxable receipts just as the locally assessed transient room tax is currently reported.
Tax receipts from this tax are deposited into the Tourism, Meeting and Convention Marketing Fund administered by the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet. This fund shall be used for the sole purpose of marketing and promoting tourism in the Commonwealth including expenditures to market and promote events and venues related to meetings, conventions, trade shows, cultural activities, historical sites, recreation, entertainment, natural phenomena, areas of scenic beauty, craft marketing, and any other economic activity that brings tourists and visitors to the Commonwealth.