The 7% room tax is simple to describe and dangerously easy to mishandle. Get it right and most of your tax compliance is handled. Get it wrong and it’s the fastest way to owe the government money you thought a platform was collecting for you.
Who owes the room tax, and how much is it?
The room occupancy tax is 7% of the room rate on any stay under 90 consecutive days (90 days or more is a long-term rental, with no room tax), governed by Act 272-2003. The person legally on the hook is the innkeeper, meaning you, the owner or manager. You collect it from the guest on top of the nightly rate, and you remit it to the Puerto Rico Tourism Company with a Monthly Tax Declaration, due by the 10th of the following month. You need your tourism identification number to remit it.
Doesn’t Airbnb handle the tax for me?
WATCH OUTThis is the single most misunderstood point, so read it twice: a platform collecting the tax does not transfer the legal responsibility off of you. Airbnb has a voluntary collection agreement with the Tourism Company and, in many cases, collects and remits the room tax on bookings made through its platform. That’s real and helpful. But if the platform misses something, or you take a booking through Vrbo, Booking.com, or your own website that doesn’t collect it, you are on the hook.
YOUR WIN TODAYHere’s the one real win today: get it in writing from your platform exactly what it collects and remits for your listing, and keep your innkeeper registration and monthly filing current even if a platform is collecting, because a zero or reconciled filing may still be expected. Direct and off-platform bookings are where owners get caught.
The part this post can’t fully give you
This is the rule. The mechanics are the money: a simple monthly reconciliation of what you charged, what the platform remitted, and what you still owe, plus the income tax, IVU, and municipal picture that the room tax is only one piece of.
Handle the room tax right, and sleep at night.
This post gives you the rule. The Short & Long-Term Rental Guide gives you the monthly reconciliation worksheet, the full tax picture (room tax, income tax, IVU, municipal), and the whole registration and management playbook from the mainland.
In plain English. For la familia.
Get the Complete Guide — $29Educational only, not tax advice. Confirm the current rate and your obligations with the PRTC and a licensed PR CPA.
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