Do Airbnb and Short-Term Rental Hosts Need to Register With the BIR and Pay VAT or Percentage Tax?

Yes — Airbnb, Agoda, and Booking.com hosts in the Philippines are running a taxable business, not earning tax-free side income. The NIRC treats leasing out a property, whether booked directly or through a digital platform, as a taxable activity. A host must register with the BIR (BIR Form 1901, Certificate of Registration 2303) and then pay income tax plus either 3% percentage tax or 12% VAT, depending on whether trailing 12-month gross booking receipts exceed ₱3,000,000.

Are short-term rental hosts actually required to register with the BIR? #

Yes. Renting out a condo unit, house, or spare room through Airbnb, Agoda, or Booking.com is leasing property in the course of trade or business — the same underlying activity the NIRC has always taxed, just booked through a new channel. The BIR does not carve out an exception for income that arrives through a platform payout instead of a direct tenant.

The BIR has been explicit that this applies to short-term platform rentals specifically, not just traditional leases. In 2021, then-BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel S.D. Guballa told BusinessWorld that the agency was actively reviewing this segment: “We are checking and validating Airbnb tax payments and compliance.” That review targeted hosts who had never registered at all — a gap the BIR flagged as a compliance risk precisely because platform income can look informal even though it is legally identical to any other rental business.

Separately, Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 60-2020, titled Obligations of Persons Conducting Business Transactions Through Any Forms of Electronic Media, and Notice to Unregistered Businesses, put all persons transacting business through electronic platforms and media on notice to register and comply. RMC No. 60-2020 was written broadly for anyone doing business online — it is not a lessor-specific or short-term-rental-specific issuance, and its published guidance and examples center on online sellers rather than property lessors by name. Listing a unit on Airbnb still falls within its plain language (“any forms of electronic media”), but a host relying on RMC No. 60-2020 alone should not expect it to spell out rental-specific mechanics; those come from the NIRC’s ordinary lease-of-property rules instead. For the parallel circular that squarely addresses online sellers and content creators (RMC No. 97-2021), see BIR Tax Obligations for Online Sellers and Content Creators — a distinct taxpayer segment from rental hosts, since that circular covers sale of goods and digital content/services, not lease of property.

Registration steps for an individual host:

• File BIR Form 1901 at the Revenue District Office covering the rental property’s location, to register as a self-employed individual/sole proprietor
• Pay the registration fee via BIR Form 0605 and receive a Certificate of Registration (BIR Form 2303) listing the specific returns owed
• Register books of accounts (manual, loose-leaf, or computerized)
• Secure BIR-registered receipts, since every rental payment requires an official receipt

What tax applies: VAT or percentage tax? #

Once registered, a host owes income tax on rental profit plus a separate business tax — either 3% percentage tax or 12% VAT — and which one applies turns on a single test: whether gross rental receipts in any trailing 12-month period exceed ₱3,000,000, the threshold set under Section 236(F) of the NIRC in relation to Section 109(BB).

That aggregation point matters for hosts with several listings: the ₱3,000,000 line is measured per taxpayer, not per unit or per platform, so a host running three units that each individually look small can still cross the threshold once combined receipts are added up.

Does the ₱15,000-a-month residential-unit exemption cover Airbnb bookings? #

Separate from the ₱3,000,000 VAT-registration threshold, the NIRC carves out a narrower VAT exemption for ordinary residential leasing. Section 109 of the NIRC, as amended by the TRAIN Law (Republic Act No. 10963), provides:

“(Q) Lease of residential unit with a monthly rental not exceeding Fifteen Thousand pesos (₱15,000).”

This exemption was written for conventional, month-to-month residential leasing — an apartment, boarding house, or dormitory rented to a long-term occupant. It is genuinely unclear whether it extends to a transient, nightly-rate Airbnb booking, which functionally resembles hotel or inn-style accommodation more than a residential lease. Neither Section 109(Q) itself nor RMC No. 60-2020 directly addresses short-term platform bookings, and no BIR issuance located for this article squarely confirms or excludes Airbnb-style stays from Section 109(Q)’s coverage. Given the BIR’s documented scrutiny of Airbnb compliance described above, a host should not assume this exemption applies to nightly bookings without a tax professional confirming the specific fact pattern — the safer default is to apply the ordinary ₱3,000,000 VAT-versus-percentage-tax framework above.

Worked example: a host earning ₱1,800,000 a year from Airbnb bookings #

Suppose a host lists a single Quezon City condo unit exclusively on Airbnb and, over the trailing 12 months of 2026, collects ₱1,800,000 in gross booking receipts. That figure sits below the ₱3,000,000 threshold, so the host stays non-VAT and has two income tax paths to compare:

At this income level, the 8% flat election is the cheaper path — the host files the percentage tax return as ₱0 for the year (having elected 8% in lieu of it) and remits ₱124,000 total, versus ₱226,500 under the graduated-plus-percentage-tax combination. Either way, both figures are meaningfully larger than zero: this is exactly the “informal, tax-free side income” assumption that gets hosts flagged during a BIR review.

What changes once bookings push a host over ₱3,000,000? #

A host running three units across Airbnb and Booking.com whose combined trailing 12-month gross receipts reach ₱3,400,000 crosses the threshold and must register as a VAT taxpayer. From that point, the host charges 12% output VAT on bookings going forward, files BIR Form 2550Q quarterly instead of Form 2551Q, and loses access to the 8% flat income tax option — but gains the ability to claim input VAT on cleaning services, laundry, platform commission (where VAT-invoiced), and condo association dues. See VAT Registration Threshold in the Philippines for the full mechanics of crossing the ₱3,000,000 line mid-year, including how sales made before the crossing point keep their original non-VAT treatment.

Will Airbnb or a guest withhold tax and issue BIR Form 2307? #

Generally, no. Under Revenue Regulations No. 11-2018, withholding on rental payments applies only when the lessee is itself a withholding agent — a corporation, or an individual engaged in business or a profession, paying rent as part of that business. An Airbnb guest booking a weekend stay for personal travel is not a withholding agent, so an ordinary guest booking does not come with a BIR Form 2307, and the host reports the full gross receipt as income without a withholding tax credit to offset it.

This is the flip side of a scenario the site has already covered: a corporate lessee — say, a company booking the same unit for staff housing or a business trip — that pays rent in the course of its own business is a withholding agent and must withhold 5% and issue BIR Form 2307. See Withholding Tax on Rent: How to Complete BIR Form 2307 for Lessors for that mechanism, the ATC codes involved, and how a lessor credits the certificate against income tax due. An Airbnb host who occasionally gets a corporate booking should watch for this — it is the exception, not the rule, for platform-driven short-term rental income.

Frequently asked questions #

Do Airbnb hosts have to pay tax to the BIR in the Philippines? #

Yes. Renting out a residential unit or room through Airbnb, Agoda, or Booking.com is leasing property in the course of trade or business, which the NIRC treats as taxable income no matter how the booking arrives. A host must register with the BIR, keep records, and pay income tax plus either percentage tax or VAT.

Do Airbnb hosts pay VAT or percentage tax? #

It depends on gross rental receipts over a trailing 12-month period. A host whose receipts do not exceed ₱3,000,000 pays 3% percentage tax under Section 116 of the NIRC (or may elect the 8% flat income tax rate instead). A host whose receipts exceed ₱3,000,000 must register as a VAT taxpayer and charge 12% VAT.

Does the ₱15,000-a-month residential-unit VAT exemption apply to Airbnb bookings? #

This is unsettled. Section 109(Q) of the NIRC exempts the lease of a residential unit with monthly rental not exceeding ₱15,000, but that provision was written for ordinary month-to-month residential leasing, not transient, nightly-rate bookings that resemble hotel or inn accommodation. Neither Section 109(Q) nor RMC No. 60-2020 directly addresses short-term platform bookings, so a host should not assume the exemption applies without a tax professional’s confirmation.

Will Airbnb or a guest withhold tax and issue BIR Form 2307 to the host? #

Generally no. Withholding on rental payments under Revenue Regulations No. 11-2018 applies only when the lessee is itself a withholding agent — a corporation or a business/professional paying rent in the course of that business. An individual guest booking a stay for personal travel is not a withholding agent, so ordinary Airbnb guest bookings do not come with a BIR Form 2307.

What BIR form does an Airbnb host use to register? #

An individual host registers as a self-employed taxpayer using BIR Form 1901, which results in a Certificate of Registration (BIR Form 2303) listing the specific returns to file — income tax, and either percentage tax or VAT depending on the host’s gross receipts.

Summary #

Airbnb, Agoda, and Booking.com income is lease income in the eyes of the BIR, not a tax-free side hustle — a host must register (BIR Form 1901, Certificate of Registration 2303) and pay income tax plus either 3% percentage tax or 12% VAT, based on the same ₱3,000,000 trailing-12-month threshold that applies to any other business under Sections 236(F) and 116 of the NIRC. The narrower ₱15,000-a-month residential-unit VAT exemption under Section 109(Q) exists for ordinary long-term leases, but it’s genuinely unclear whether it reaches transient, nightly-rate platform bookings, so treat the general VAT/percentage-tax framework as the safe default. Guests booking for personal travel don’t withhold, so most hosts won’t hold a BIR Form 2307 the way a lessor to a corporate tenant would — see the rent withholding guide for that contrast, and the VAT registration threshold guide and online sellers and content creators post for the closely related rules this post builds on.