GST on Airbnb and Short-Stay Rentals in NZ Explained

Listing a spare apartment or investment property on Airbnb looks simple. The GST side is not. Long-term residential rent and short-stay accommodation are treated completely differently for GST, and the difference can follow a property all the way to its sale.

This guide is for Auckland owners who let, or are thinking of letting, a property for short stays through Airbnb, Bookabach or a similar platform. It explains the rules as at June 2026. It is general information, not tax advice, and this is an area where professional advice early is cheaper than fixing a mistake later.

Long-term rent is exempt. Short stays are not

If you rent a property to tenants on a normal residential tenancy, the rent is exempt from GST. You do not charge it, you do not register for it because of the rent, and you do not claim GST on your costs.

Short-stay accommodation is a taxable supply for GST. That one difference has several consequences:

• the income counts towards the GST registration threshold
• bookings made through platforms attract GST even if you are not registered
• if the property comes into the GST net, there can be GST to pay when you sell it.

When you have to register

You must register for GST if your turnover from all your taxable activities is over $60,000 in a 12-month period.

When working out turnover, add up:

• your total gross short-stay rental income
• any business income
• any self-employed or contracting income
• for stays by family or other associated people, the market-value rent or the rent they paid, whichever is higher.

Salary and wages do not count. If the property is jointly owned, the short-stay income is treated as belonging to the owners together, separate from each owner's individual turnover.

A property or entity comes into the GST net if:

• its short-stay income, alone or with other properties in the same entity, goes over $60,000
• the entity has another taxable activity and the combined turnover goes over $60,000
• the entity is already GST-registered, so the short-stay letting becomes another taxable activity
• the owner chooses to register voluntarily below the threshold.

How platform bookings are taxed

Short-stay accommodation booked through an online platform operated by someone else, such as Airbnb or Bookabach, attracts GST at 15%, whether or not you are GST-registered.

The platform operator charges the GST, pays it to Inland Revenue and issues a tax invoice to the guest. What that means for you depends on your registration.

If you are not GST-registered

• You do not need to register or account for GST on platform bookings. The platform does it.
• The platform passes on a flat-rate credit to you, which partly offsets the GST charged. Make sure the platform holds your correct details and GST status so you receive it.
• Your property does not come into the GST net through platform bookings alone, so it does not become subject to GST on sale for that reason.
• Keep watching your turnover. If it goes over $60,000, you must register and tell the platform.

If you are GST-registered

• Tell every platform you use that you are registered.
• You no longer account for GST at 15% on accommodation booked through a platform. Instead, report those bookings in your GST return as zero-rated supplies.
• You do not need to issue tax invoices to the guest or the platform.
• You can still claim GST on your costs in your GST return.

If you take payment from guests directly for some bookings, outside the platform, the treatment is different again, and you may need to pay the platform an amount to cover its GST liability. Ask the platform how it handles this.

The real risk: GST when you sell

This is the part that catches owners out.

Once a property is in the GST net, you can claim GST on its purchase price, although specific rules stop you claiming it all at once. The catch comes later. If you sell the property, or stop the short-stay activity and deregister, you may have to return 15% GST to Inland Revenue on the property's value. A sale to another GST-registered buyer can be zero-rated, but most residential buyers are not registered.

In effect, that is a tax on any capital gain while the property was in the GST net, and it can cost more than the short-stay letting earned. For a typical Auckland property, 15% of the sale price is a very large number.

Practical steps

Before you list, or before your turnover nears the threshold:

1. Take advice first. A conversation with an accountant costs far less than an unexpected GST bill on sale.
2. Check the platform's position. Confirm it meets Inland Revenue's definition for these rules and ask how it handles GST.
3. Price for the GST. If you are not registered, GST is now part of every platform booking. Review your nightly rates with that in mind.
4. Track turnover monthly. Include all your taxable activities, not just accommodation.
5. Keep personal use separate. If you or your family also use the property, the mixed-use asset rules may apply for income tax.

Inland Revenue explains the registration test, with worked examples, on its page about GST and short-stay rental income.

Is short-stay letting worth it?

GST is only one part of the comparison. Council rates, furnishing, cleaning, insurance and vacancy all change when a property moves from a long-term tenancy to short stays. For a long-term rental, there is no GST at all, and our guide to the cost of vacancy and how to reduce it covers the main cost to manage.

If you want a firm figure for what the property would earn on a long-term tenancy before you decide, request a free rental appraisal. And if you would rather hand the day-to-day over, our process explains how full management works.