Planning Commission recommends removing sales-tax license requirement for short-term rentals to Board of County Commissioners

The San Miguel County Planning Commission voted to recommend that the Board of County Commissioners approve a land-use-code amendment removing the local requirement that short-term rental license holders obtain a separate Colorado sales tax license if they advertise exclusively through an online platform or management company that remits sales taxes on their behalf.

Staff explained that the Colorado Department of Revenue has been asking holders of inactive sales-tax-license accounts to close them and confirmed that taxes remitted by platforms such as Airbnb or VRBO cover the local lodging-sales-tax reporting obligation for those listings. "If you're exclusively using a platform that's remitting taxes on your behalf, you would no longer be required to obtain that sales tax license," staff said.

Under the proposed change, short-term rental licensees who advertise on their own — for example on a personal website not covered by a platform remitting taxes — would still need to obtain a Colorado sales tax license. Staff said short-term rental permits renew every two years and that the county maintains a database of permittees and can proactively notify them of the change if the BOCC adopts the amendment.

A commissioner moved to recommend the amendment to the Board of County Commissioners under the land-use code amendment standards; the motion was seconded and passed by voice vote. Commissioners asked about oversight and notification; staff said the county will publish the change, notify short-term rental permittees from the county database, and update application guidance.

Next steps: the Planning Commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners for a decision; if adopted, staff will contact permit holders and provide updated licensing guidance.