Australia: Where Vrbo collects and remits taxes and lodging taxes

This table explains which stay/lodging taxes are collected and remitted in Australia.

Australia Capital Territory (ACT)

ACT is introducing a Short-Term Rental Accommodation (STRA) levy, effective July 1, 2025. Vrbo will be required to collect and remit the ACT 5% STRA levy for bookings made on or after July 1, 2025.

Platform partners

• Generally, no action is required from the partner if the property is within the scope of this levy since we will apply the levy via the tax settings page in the Vrbo dashboard. From July 1, this page will show full details about the taxes we are collecting, including rates, taxable amounts, and government requiring the tax. 
  • If you are registered for Australia Goods and Services Tax (GST), please make sure that you include a GST-inclusive price in the Vrbo dashboard.
• Vrbo collects and remits ACT’s 5% short stay levy for bookings made on or after July 1, 2025. It will not apply to bookings made before this date, even if the stay is completed on or after July 1, 2025.
• The levy will be added onto the total booking value by the Vrbo system, collected with the booking payment and remitted to the Revenue Office on a quarterly basis.
• The levy remittable is calculated as 5% of the total paid by the traveler. 
  • This includes fees such as cleaning, admin, extra guests, pets, GST where applicable, and the levy itself.
  • The total does not include credit card fees or damage deposits that are refunded.
  • In order to collect the correct amount, Vrbo will be calculating the levy at 5.26%, as the levy amount itself is subject to the levy.
• The levy applies to bookings of less than 28 consecutive days.
• The levy will not apply to a stay in certain properties (see ACT Revenue’s website for details, and the Exemptions section below).

• No action is required from the partner at this stage. 
• Vrbo will remit ACT’s 5% short stay levy for bookings made on or after July 1, 2025. It will not apply to bookings made before this date, even if the stay is completed on or after July 1, 2025.
• The levy will be remitted to the Revenue Office on a quarterly basis.
• The levy remittable is calculated as 5% of the total paid by the traveler.
  • This includes fees such as cleaning, admin, extra guests, pets, and GST where applicable.
  • The total does not include stay-collected fees, such as damage deposits that are refunded.
• The levy applies to bookings of less than 28 consecutive days.
• The levy will not apply to a stay in certain properties (see ACT Revenue’s website for details).

Exemptions

If your property qualifies for the exemption (see the Revenue Officer's guideline), we will need you to complete a declaration form:

1. To request this form, contact Vrbo Support using the Contact Us button at the bottom of this page.
2. Send your completed form back to Vrbo Support.
3. Upon review and approval, we will update your property to exclude the STRA levy.

For more information, please refer to the Revenue Officer's guideline.

Victoria

From January 1, 2025, the short stay levy (SSL) applies to short stays in Victorian property.

Platform partners

• Generally, no action is required from the partner since we will apply the levy via the tax settings page in the Vrbo dashboard. From January 1, this page will show full details about the taxes we are collecting, including rates, taxable amounts, and government requiring the tax.
  • If you are registered for Australia GST, please make sure that you include a GST-inclusive price in the Vrbo dashboard.
• Vrbo will collect and remit Victoria’s 7.5% short stay levy for bookings made on or after January 1, 2025. It will not apply to bookings made before this date, even if the stay is completed on or after January 1, 2025.
• The levy will be added onto the total booking value by the Vrbo system, collected with the booking payment and remitted to the State Revenue Office on a quarterly basis.
• The levy remittable is calculated as 7.5% of the total paid by the traveler.
  • This includes fees such as cleaning, admin, extra guests, pets, GST where applicable, and the levy itself.
  • The total does not include credit card fees or damage deposits that are refunded.
  • In order to collect the correct amount, Vrbo will be calculating the levy at 8.11%, as the levy amount itself is subject to the levy.
• The levy applies to bookings of less than 28 consecutive days.
• The levy will not apply to a stay in a property that is someone’s Primary Place of Residence (PPR; see the PRR exemptions section below).

Integrated property managers (IPMs)

Effective: April 1, 2025

• As of April 1, 2025, listings that are connected to Vrbo via an external software integration (IPMs) are required to collect the SSL from travelers, calculated at 8.11%. This figure accounts for the fact that the levy is calculated as 7.5% of the total that the traveler pays, inclusive of the levy itself. For more information, see the Victoria State Revenue Office’s (SRO's) frequently asked questions (FAQ).
  • The levy applies to fees such as cleaning, admin, extra guests, pets, and GST where applicable.
  • It does not include credit card fees or damage deposits that are refunded.
  • The levy applies to bookings of less than 28 consecutive days.
  • The levy will not apply to a stay in a property that is someone’s PPR (see the PRR exemptions section below).

Action items:

• Collect SSL: You should be adding an 8.11% SSL on room price (inclusive of applicable GST), and all mandatory fees, such as cleaning fees for bookings with a stay commencing on or after April 1, 2025. Please refer to the SRO’s FAQ for how to calculate the SSL. The SSL should be set up as a “tax” in your software so that it is not commissionable (you may wish to confirm this with your software provider).
• PPR exemption: If you are eligible for a PPR exemption, please follow the below guideline to submit a declaration form.
• Invoicing: After collecting the SSL, please hold the funds.
  • Due to delays in operationalizing the invoicing process, we will not issue an invoice for April 2025 stays. The first invoice will be issued in January 2026 and will cover stays from May 2025 to September 2025 (five months). We are forgoing collecting of the SSL tax from you for April 2025 due to these operational challenges.
  • Thereafter, we will send you an invoice in June and December. The invoice will be issued two months after each six-month period. For example, our second invoice will be sent in June 2026, covering the period from October 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026 (check-out date basis).

PPR exemptions

 If your property qualifies for the PPR exemption, we will need you to complete a declaration form. For instructions on how to submit the form, contact Vrbo Support by using the Contact Us button at the bottom of this page. Upon review and approval, we will update your property to exclude the SSL.

For more information, please refer to the Revenue Officer’s guideline.