As of April 1, 2024, Vrbo/Bookabach needs to collect and remit the goods and services tax (GST) on rates to the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) as required by New Zealand’s GST rules for electronic marketplace operators.  

As a property manager (not an integrated property manager), review the information in this article to understand any actions you need to take for your New Zealand properties.

FAQs 

Do I need to update each individual owner’s information? 

If you currently input your information (such as your bank account or GST registration number) on Vrbo/Bookabach for all the properties you manage, you do not need to update each individual owner’s information if you meet all the following conditions: 

  1. You qualify as a listing intermediary (you list lodging services on an online marketplace operator on behalf of homeowners and have an agreement with the online marketplace operator to list or advertise such lodging services) 
  2. You meet all the conditions for a listing intermediary to pay out the flat-rate credit to property owners (for example, you are GST-registered and issue flat-rate credit statement to property owners). 
  3. You are willing to administer the flat-rate credit payout to underlying property owners. 

Otherwise, you must provide each individual owner’s information so that Vrbo/Bookabach can administer the flat-rate credit for the underlying property owners. 

Note: Once you update the bank details for the individual owners, Vrbo/Bookabach will pay their rates in addition to the flat-rate credit according to the bank account information you provided. 

I’m not GST registered. What should I do if I want Vrbo/Bookabach to pay out the flat-rate credit to my underlying non-GST-registered homeowners?   

If you’re not GST-registered, here’s how your underlying non-GST registered homeowners will receive the flat-rate credit payout: 

  • If Vrbo/Bookabach currently pays out the rates directly to the underlying homeowners, update the homeowners’ GST registration statuses and we will pay out the flat-rate credit as well. 
  • If Vrbo/Bookabach currently pays out the rates to you, update the homeowners’ GST registration statuses. We will pay out the flat-rate credit to you and issue you a monthly statement. You must distribute the flat-rate credit to the underlying non-GST registered homeowners.
    • Alternatively, you can update each individual homeowner’s bank account with us, so we will pay out the rates and flat-rate credit to them instead.