TN - Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Sevierville STR taxes

[Richard Lee]

We finally have our STR property set up and rolling, listings cranking on Airbnb and VRBO, and on our way towards getting enough 5 star reviews to kick the machine into high gear. Still have some deferred maintenance from prior ownership to deal with, but mostly there. Kudos to those who've helped us get here @Avery Carl  @Rhonda Blue @Luke Carl @parkerborovsky 

Curious on the nitty gritty details re: taxes.... ie how often, to which entities, etc... Now, of course we're capturing everything re: expenses, purchases, lodging income + cleaning + the cuts taken by listing services, the odd paypal charges, etc.

I know that Airbnb collects and remits SOME taxes for a percentage of the STR rental, but I'm not certain it's 100% of the necessary taxes (ie does that include lodging tax, excise tax as well?)... Whereas VRBO doesn't to my knowledge collect anything for you at all.

We have a Tennessee based LLC, business license, registered to pay sales taxes, excise taxes, etc. I thought we were covered... but reading lately how Sevierville itself may have ideas beyond TN-based tax requirements which may require further action.

For those of you veterans in this local market, what are your 'stay out of prison' tax best practices and lessons learned? 

Thanks much,

Rich