Revision: Dec. 14, 2015, midnight
\t \t\tHB 1590-FN-A-LOCAL - AS INTRODUCED
2016 SESSION
\t16-2576
\t09/10
HOUSE BILL\t1590-FN-A-LOCAL
AN ACT\trelative to the regulation and taxation of short-term rental businesses.
SPONSORS:\tRep. Butler, Carr. 7; Sen. Fuller Clark, Dist 21
COMMITTEE:\tCommerce and Consumer Affairs
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ANALYSIS
\tThis bill requires short-term rental businesses to register as businesses with the secretary of state and meet certain posting and reporting requirements. The bill also expands the meals and rooms tax to apply to short-term rental businesses.
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Explanation:\tMatter added to current law appears in bold italics.
\t\tMatter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
\t\tMatter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
\t16-2576
\t09/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Sixteen
AN ACT\trelative to the regulation and taxation of short-term rental businesses.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
\t1 Meals and Rooms Tax; Definitions. Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 78-A:3, III to read as follows:
\t\tIII. "Hotel'' means an establishment which holds itself out to the public by offering sleeping accommodations for rent, whether or not the major portion of its operating receipts is derived from sleeping accommodations. The term includes, but is not limited to, inns, motels, tourist homes and cabins, ski dormitories, ski lodges, lodging homes, rooming houses, furnished room houses, boarding houses, short-term rental businesses as defined in RSA 353:11, private clubs, hostels, cottages, camps, chalets, barracks, dormitories, and apartments. The term does not include the following:
\t2 Meals and Rooms Tax; Definitions. Amend RSA 78-A:3, IV to read as follows:
\t\tIV. "Operator'' means any person operating a hotel, charging for a taxable meal, or receiving gross rental receipts, whether as owner or proprietor or lessee, sublessee, mortgagee, licensee, or otherwise. "Operator" also means any short-term rental business as defined in RSA 353:11. Where both the owner of a residential unit and the entity advertising a short-term rental are registered as short-term rental businesses, the entity advertising the short-term rental shall be the operator responsible for collecting the tax under this chapter.
\t3 New Subdivision; Regulation of Short-Term Rental Businesses. Amend RSA 353 by inserting after section 10 the following new subdivision:
Regulation of Short-Term Rental Businesses
\t353:11 Definition. In this subdivision, "short-term rental business" means any person or entity which offers or advertises the rental of one or more rooms in a residential unit for occupancy for tourist or transient use.
\t353:12 Registration Required. A short-term rental business shall register as a business with the secretary of state.
\t353:13 Posting and Reporting Requirements. A short-term rental business that offers short-term rentals through platforms on the Internet, including but not limited to AirBNB, VRBO, Flipkey, and HomeAway, shall:
\t\tI. Prominently post, as part of the application process for short-term rentals, that it is required to register as a business and pay the meals and rooms tax.
\t\tII. Submit to the department of revenue administration on a quarterly basis a report of all New Hampshire businesses which list through such short-term rental business, including the New Hampshire business registration number and contact information for each business.
\t353:14 Penalty. Any person or entity which violates the provisions of this subdivision shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
\t4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2017.
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t16-2576
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t12/3/15
HB 1590-FN-A-LOCAL- FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT\trelative to the regulation and taxation of short-term rental businesses.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of State and Judicial Branch state this bill, as introduced, may increase state expenditures and revenue by indeterminable amounts in FY 2017 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact to county and local expenditures and revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of State states this bill requires a short term rental business to register as a business with the secretary of state. A minimum fee of $50 is required to register a business and it is not known how many short term rental businesses would file under this bill. To the extent short term rental businesses register and pay the required fee, state revenue will increase.
The Judicial Branch states this bill contains an unspecified misdemeanor, which can be either class A or B, with the presumption being a class B misdemeanor. There is no method to determine how many charges would be brought as a result of this bill to determine the fiscal impact on expenditures. The table below provides the potential costs associated with the penalty included in this bill:
| FY 2017 | FY 2018 |
Judicial Branch* |
|
|
Class B Misdemeanor | $50 | $53 |
Class A Misdemeanor | $70 | $74 |
Appeals | Varies | Varies |
*It should be noted average case cost estimates for FY 2017 and FY 2018 are based on data that is more than ten years old and does not reflect changes to the courts over that same period of time or the impact these changes may have on processing the various case types. | ||
The Department of Revenue Administration states this bill would have no fiscal impact on tax revenue as short-term rental businesses are already taxable under existing statutes.
The New Hampshire Association of Counties, Judicial Council, and Department of Justice state this bill has no fiscal impact on their operations.