Airbnb sues Palm Beach County … again

Airbnb is suing over new county ordinance regarding tax information

Anne Gannon and West Palm Beach (Credit: iStock and Airbnb)
Anne Gannon and West Palm Beach (Credit: iStock and Airbnb)

Airbnb continues to its legal fight against Palm Beach County.

The vacation rental platform filed a new lawsuit against the county and tax collector Anne Gannon over the county’s requirement that Airbnb provide tax information to hosts, according to the Palm Beach Post.

The county is requiring that Airbnb must collect a valid bed tax account number and provide bed tax information to hosts before a property can be listed on the website. Airbnb argues that the new ordinance violates the Florida Constitution, according to the Post.

Airbnb also said the ordinance’s “unconstitutional and unlawful provisions” will make Airbnb “suffer irreparable harm, the extent of which is incalculable.”

Palm Beach County’s new set of rules on vacation rentals were approved on June 18.

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The ordinance also requires that Airbnb collect bed taxes and remit them to the vacation rental host, who in turn will give the bed taxes to the tax collector’s office.

Both Airbnb and the vacation rental site HomeAway sued Palm Beach County in November after commissioners approved the first set of vacation rental rules.

The pending lawsuits alleged that the regulations violate state and federal law and would violate their customers’ rights.

Last week, Airbnb settled a federal lawsuit it brought against the city of Miami Beach.

The vacation​ rental tech company had sued Miami Beach in late 2018, after the city commission passed new regulations. Those measures require Airbnb ​to ​display the resort tax account and business tax receipt numbers for each listing by their hosts within zones that allow short-term rentals. [Palm Beach Post]Keith Larsen