Recently MAR received reports that the Department of Revenue issued guidance stating that rentals for more than 31 days would need to be registered with the Department as short-term rentals. MAR successfully argued before the Department, that the new short-term rental law does not apply to any rental of 32-days or more. MAR has successfully advocated on several aspects of this law and related regulations over the past year. Prior to this latest clarification, there had been some questions over the application of the registry provisions of the statute.
All agreed that the tax aspect of the law applied only to rentals of 31-days or less. However, the Department interpreted the new statute to require rentals over that length were still required to register with the Department and be subject to public disclosure through the short-term rental registry. MAR argued that rentals longer than 31 days were entirely exempt from the new short-term rental law and were thus not required to register or pay tax. Our explanation focused on three arguments (read our full statement here) – subjecting rentals over 31-days to the short-term rental law is:
- Counter to current regulations and DOR guidance;
- Counter to the short-term rental statute; and,
- Harmful to the real estate industry.
In response, the Department added a note to its FAQ page stating explicitly that “room occupancy excise applies only to short-term rentals of property for 31 days or less” and that “registration is not required” for “properties that are always rented for a period of more than 31 days.” If you ever have any questions about what you need to do to comply with this law, reach out to the MAR Legal Hotline, 1-800-370-5342 for free legal assistance.