Georgia Cities Seek A Class-Action Lawsuit Over Airbnb Taxes

Four Georgia communities say that Airbnb isn’t paying its fair share of taxes.

In a federal lawsuit filed Friday, the three cities and one county are seeking class-action status to include communities throughout the state as plaintiffs.

They say the allegations in the lawsuit affect more than 100 Georgia counties and hundreds of municipalities.

The suit was filed by lawyers representing Rome, Cartersville, Tybee Island and Hart County. They’re among several Georgia communities with ordinances to collect taxes for short-term rentals.

It would be up to a judge to decide whether to allow the litigation to proceed as a class-action suit.

San Francisco-based Airbnb did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

But on its website, Airbnb’s lists numerous jurisdictions where the company says it has agreements with governments to collect and pay taxes on behalf of hosts when properties are booked. The list includes every state in the U.S. except Georgia and Hawaii.

A new Georgia law is expected to change the way taxes are collected from companies in the online marketplace.

Gov. Brian Kemp last month signed the new law that’s supposed to facilitate the collection of state and local sales taxes from online providers including Airbnb beginning April 1. It’s unclear what effect the new law will have on the lawsuit.

Georgia lawmakers are considering other bills that would facilitate the collection of other lodging taxes from such online markets that let third parties sell goods or services.