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Bed taxes: Is Palm Beach County missing out on revenue?

Posted at 4:56 PM, May 12, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-12 21:37:37-04

The Palm Beach County Tax Collector has asked county commissioners to create a more comprehensive bed tax to make it easier to collect on short term rentals-services like Airbnb.

If you rent a room or a house out, you have to pay taxes just as hotels do. It's a 6 percent tax.

Last year the county collected $47 million.

Palm Beach County Tax Collector Anne Gannon said there are only a few renters that actually pay the bed tax.

The problem is enforcing it is a cumbersome task.

What she's asking commissioners to do is start the conversation so the county doesn't miss out on possible revenue.

"We're really trying to make this ordinance clearer, more easily understood by the public,' Gannon said.

She estimates it could take between six and nine months to get a measure passed.