VRBO & Value Added Tax in California?

Question

So I have a furnished STR l that I property manage in my area and I got my last booking through Airbnb, but I wanted to expand our marketing across multiple platforms. I went to VRBO to add in our listing and when I got to the payment information, it required me to put in a Value-Added-Tax (VAT) Number for my property management business. I had no idea what this was, so I looked it up and found that this is essentially a tax ID number for folks in the European Union.

Why would they be asking me for one of these for my property in the Bay Area? I couldn't bypass it, so when I called in to ask, the VRBO service rep told me that I should have this number but could not explain why or what it is. I tried to give our FEIN and state tax number but they didn't work. She eventually transferred me to the payments company (separate from VRBO) and they told me that since I am in the US I shouldn't be required to put that on my application but that since they come through HomeAway, I would have to contact them. I was transferred back and once again, no one at VRBO could help me.

Am I wrong in thinking that I don't need a VAT number for my property (it has a 30 day minimum anyway so I am not subject to occupancy tax...) or is VRBO's website glitching? Does anyone operating in the US or California have a VAT number?

Andrew Wong · Answer

I don't recall needing to add a VAT

Kevin Lefeuvre · Answer

As a Frenchman entrepreneur I am 100% positive there is no such thing as vat in the us. The equivalent is the sales tax. Unlike Europe we don't pay sales tax on services here. Unless there's a confusion with the tax id. they should not ask for anything else than tax ID, (or SSN), for a " US person " (as defined by the IRS).