Colorado committee pulls Airbnb tax law

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Colorado committee pulls Airbnb tax law

James CarlsonBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Colorado | stan.store/JamesCarlson · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes

Not sure if someone else out there has already posted this. If so, forgive the duplication.

For those Airbnb hosts in Denver and Colorado Springs (and anywhere in our great state), you might have heard about a bill being considered by an interim legislative committee that would have reclassified short-term rental properties as commercial properties for the purposes of property taxation.

Without going into the super sexy minutia of tax policy, essentially the bill would have change the percentage of your property eligible to be taxed by local mill levies from 7.2% to 29%. Uh ... kind of a big deal.

Anyway, the point of this post is inform all you CO BP STR operators -- acronym/abbreviation overload! -- that the bill was WITHDRAWN yesterday at the interim committee. 

Safe for now. Now if we could just get Colorado Springs to be a little more friendly toward Airbnb and short-term rentals. 

[email protected]720-460-1770
James Carlson Real Estate
WebsiteView Page
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Andrew Mapes
Member since 2018 · 1 post · 1 vote
7y

Thanks for the Post!  We will be watching this closely.

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  • Andrew Mapes
    Member since 2018 · 1 post · 1 vote
    7y

    Thanks for the Post!  We will be watching this closely.

    1Reply
  • Michael Vialpando
    Rental Property Investor · Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2016 · 41 posts · 55 votes
    7y

    Thanks for the update! 

    Colorado Springs city council will be discussing Short Term Rentals and Airbnb on October 23rd! Please attend if possible! You can find more info on the Short Term Rental Alliance Colorado Springs Facebook page.

    Thanks again James!

    0Reply
  • James CarlsonBusiness Member
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Colorado | stan.store/JamesCarlson · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    7y

    @Michael Vialpando

    Thanks for putting that date out there. I'd just reiterate that having a good showing at that meeting would be nice for those who care about the future of short-term rentals and Airbnb in Colorado Springs. 

    [email protected]720-460-1770
    James Carlson Real Estate
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
  • Jake CohenPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2017 · 200 posts · 126 votes
    7y
    @James Carlson great to hear!
    0Reply
  • Thadeous Larkin
    Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2018 · 85 posts · 144 votes
    7y

    @Michael Vialpando - I'm kind of a luddite, so I don't have Facebook.  Is there any military representation in the Short Term Rental Alliance?  As folks who deploy or go on temporary duty, often for short periods of time, we're hit pretty hard by anything that prevents us from renting our space in the meantime.

    NOTE:  I say that as my own personal opinion.  This is not an official position of the DoD or any branch of the U.S. military.

    0Reply
  • James CarlsonBusiness Member
    OP
    Real Estate Agent · Colorado | stan.store/JamesCarlson · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    7y

    @Thadeous Larkin

    Maybe @Michael Vialpando can address whether the alliance has any military representation. I will say, though, that the worst case scenario that many alliance members consider is that they restrict the ability to operate short-term rentals to only your primary residence. In that scenario, you and any other member of the military would like fall under the provision and be allowed to rent while deployed. 

    Of course we never thought they'd even consider being as restrictive as some elected officials seem to want to be, so who knows?

    [email protected]720-460-1770
    James Carlson Real Estate
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
  • Michael Vialpando
    Rental Property Investor · Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2016 · 41 posts · 55 votes
    7y

    @Thadeous Larkin Great question. 

    A great local Short Term Rental / Airbnb property management company, Hoste, has done a great job trying to educate and bring together investors and hosts to oppose an overreaching city ordinance in Colorado Springs. Check out this video they made here.

    https://youtu.be/T7_npKG6zbg

    Hoste has also made a couple short 10-second clips and one of them does focus on the military and deployment aspect of STRs - but I only see the video shared on Facebook.

    I can send you a private massage with some information of what happened at the last meeting with city council.

    @James Carlson Agreed! After several years of affirmation from the city that they were not looking to restrict Short Term Rentals, just pay taxes, it seems they have flip-flopped and catered to a few, very vocal neighbors.

    1Reply
  • Thadeous Larkin
    Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2018 · 85 posts · 144 votes
    7y

    @James Carlson - you're right, I was being a little dramatic with my language.  Technically the new regulations wouldn't "prevent" us from renting out our homes, but proposed registration, fees, etc. would be so prohibitive to behavior that it would amount to a type of prevention.   It disincentivizes us from even attempting to comply with the regulation, and thus we won't do it.  Sort of the inverse of incentivizing people to provide quality affordable housing by offering tax incentives to those who buy houses.

    @Michael Vialpando - Please do PM me the info.  I'm not at all surprised by that flip-flopping.  I'm originally from the great state of New York, where the thruway tolls were only supposed to be active for ~ten years after the thruway system was built, supposedly to pay for their costs.  If you've ever driven across New York, you'll be shocked, shocked to learn that the tolls are still in place and only increasing. I've never heard of a governmental organization that is willing to cut off a source of revenue once it's in place. I predict that attempts to regulate/earn revenue from the STR industry will not end with this latest effort.

    0Reply
  • Michael Vialpando
    Rental Property Investor · Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2016 · 41 posts · 55 votes
    7y

    @Thadeous Larkin I sent you a PM

    Also, This link may still work even if you don't have a facebook account. 

    https://www.facebook.com/COSSTRA/

    0Reply
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