Booking an Airbnb listing in Oklahoma will get more expensive in a couple weeks.
On July first, Airbnb will start collecting the 4.5 percent state sales tax, local sales and use taxes, and local lodging taxes on bookings in Oklahoma.
Airbnb is the latest major internet company to work with the commission on the issue of online sales tax.
"So, they will remit that to the state, and that's something that we will remit back to the local communities," said Paula Ross with the Oklahoma Tax Commission. "So, it's something that's good for the state of Oklahoma."
Earlier this year, retail giant Amazon agreed to collect and remit sales taxes on its sales in Oklahoma.
"There's a law that says these companies owe the sales tax. It's just been difficult to accommodate and work out, whether it's tracking them down or that type of thing," Ross said.
Ross said they’ve tried to make remitting sales taxes easier for online retailers. For example, the tax commission moved to its current streamlined system.
"We take in the money. We have the rates where they can go online and access what the rate is in that location, so it's not something that's as complex as it was years ago," Ross said.
The tax commission doesn’t know how much this will boost state and local coffers. Airbnb said there were more than 33,000 bookings in Oklahoma last year.
