Washington short-term rental tax: Retail sales tax + local lodging taxes on stays under 30 days
What Washington charges on Airbnb and Vrbo stays, who files it, and when it's due, from the state's own pages (checked 2026-10-27). Then build your return numbers from your export, free.
Washington lodging taxes at a glance
| Item | Washington rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Who's transient | Guests staying less than one month or less than 30 days in a row (when the stay doesn't start on the 1st) | Washington DOR |
| Taxes | Retail sales tax, Retailing B&O tax and, in most locations, additional lodging taxes | Washington DOR |
| Taxable charges | Lodging, cleaning, pet, smoking, damage and early/late departure fees | Washington DOR |
| Not lodging | Forfeited deposits kept as a cancellation penalty: B&O tax only, no sales or lodging tax | Washington DOR |
| Location code | Report using the location code of the property (Tax Rate Lookup or lodging rates list) | Washington DOR |
Checked on 2026-10-27 from: Washington DOR — Lodging, transient (short-term). Rates change; confirm on the official page before you file. Local rates differ by city and county and are not listed here unless shown above.
What this means for your return
Washington's total rate depends on the exact location code. Look it up, then enter it as your rate; Lodgetally keeps cancelled stays out of taxable receipts and flags them for review.
Lodgetally doesn't look up rates: you type the ones that apply to your property (state, county, city, fee), and it applies them to the taxable receipts it builds from your Airbnb, Vrbo or Booking.com export.
Build the numbers for your Washington return
- Download your Airbnb earnings CSV, Vrbo report or Booking.com export.
- Drop it in the tool above and enter the Washington rate(s) that apply to you.
- Set the period and date basis, mark which platforms remit for you, and download the worksheet.
More: lodging tax in other states · how to calculate occupancy tax · does Airbnb collect it for you? · free worksheet template
FAQ
Does Airbnb collect Washington lodging tax for me?
Often for some taxes, not always for all of them. Airbnb and Vrbo publish the taxes they collect by location; anything they don't collect is yours to report. Lodgetally separates platform-remitted stays from the ones you owe tax on.
Is this page tax advice?
No. It summarizes the Washington revenue department's public pages as checked on 2026-10-27, with links. Confirm the rules for your property with the tax office.
Is it really private?
Yes. Your file is read by JavaScript running in your browser tab; its contents — guest names, earnings, listings — are never sent over the network. You can verify this in your browser's developer tools (Network tab), or go offline after the page has loaded.
Is this tax advice?
No. Lodgetally does the arithmetic from your platform files using the rates and rules you enter. Rules differ by state, county and city — check what's taxable, the exemptions, and whether a platform collects for you with your tax office, and file on their form.
Which files work?
The Airbnb earnings / transaction history CSV, Vrbo payout and stay-tax reports, the Booking.com extranet reservations export, and most property-management exports with stay dates and amounts — CSV, TXT, XLSX, XLS or ODS. Columns are detected automatically and you can change any of them; your choice is remembered for that layout.
Why by check-in date and not payout date?
Most lodging-tax returns are based on when guests stayed. Payout dates drift from stay dates at every period boundary. You can choose check-in, check-out, payout date, or splitting each stay's receipts by nights in each month.
Does it know my tax rate?
No — you enter it (one or more rates, e.g. state + county + city), so the worksheet always matches your jurisdiction's current rate.
What's free?
Everything, one file at a time, for reports covering up to 40 reservations — the full worksheet, checks, CSV summary and printable worksheet. Pro removes the limit, combines several files (e.g. Airbnb + Vrbo + Booking.com), and adds the Excel workbook and per-stay CSV.