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Adding the new Short Stay Levy tax in Australia

This article is relevant for:

As of 01 January 2025, online booking platforms that facilitate short-term accommodation services (such as Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo) are required to charge, collect, and remit a new Short Stay Levy (SSL) tax as follows:

  • Accommodations in the Victoria region only
  • On reservations 28 days or less
  • 7.5% charged on the total booking payout

Where to add the SSL tax

How you configure the new SSL tax depends on which distribution channels you're connected to and where your guest reservations originate.

Note:

Guesty Lite users: You only need to set up the SSL tax in Guesty for direct bookings. See full details about setting up taxes.

Reservation made through

Where to configure SSL
Agoda In channel
Airbnb n/a - Airbnb is applying the SSL automatically to relevant guest reservations. Full details from Airbnb
Booking.com Existing listings: In channel

New published listings with rates & availability sync: In channel

New published listings with full sync: In Guesty
Direct bookings, i.e. reservations that are made: Manually / Through the Booking Website, Booking engine, or Booking engine API / Via Google In Guesty
Expedia In channel
Marriott (HVMB) In Guesty
Trip.com In channel
Vrbo (see limitations below) n/a - Vrbo is covering the SSL until further notice. Vrbo help article

Vrbo limitations

Vrbo has advised that they will remit the new SSL tax on bookings at properties managed by Integrated partners, such as Guesty, until further notice.

This conflicts with Guesty syncing taxes automatically with channels. The SSL created in Guesty will be added to Vrbo reservations. To avoid a double charge, you can zero out the amount in the guest folio. See steps below.

Length of stay condition limitations

When creating the SSL in Guesty, a length of stay condition is added for direct bookings (see table above) so that the tax is only applied to reservations of 28 days or less.

The length of stay condition does NOT apply to synced channels.

For Marriott and Booking.com (see table above), the tax will be added to all reservations. To avoid an unnecessary charge for reservations over 28 days, you can zero out the amount in the guest folio. See steps below.

Create SSL on the account level (Pro only)

Add the SSL tax on the account level if most of your properties are in Victoria. For any properties outside Victoria, you can turn off the tax sync on the listing level. 

Step by step
  1. Sign in to your Guesty account.
  2. In the top navigation bar, click the mode selector and select Financials mode.
  3. Click Financial settings and select Tax configuration.
  4. In the top-right corner, click Edit.
  5. Scroll down and click Add new.
  6. Set up the basic tax settings:
    1. Tax type: Select Goods and services tax. 
    2. Name: Enter an identifying name, e.g. "Short Stay Levy".
    3. Invoice items to tax: Check the select all box.
    4. Tax amount: Select %, and enter "7.5" as the amount.
    5. Per: Select stay.
  7. Click Set additional conditions for this tax.

    Important:

    Conditions only apply to direct bookings (see table above).

    1. Select Length of stay.
    2. For "Reservations up to _ nights", enter 28. 
  8. Click Continue to exit the new tax settings.
  9. Back on the "Tax configuration" page, at the top-right click Save tax configuration.

If you are part of the new additional fees interface currently in beta, creating an additional fee to cover the SSL for specific channels only is an option. However, additional fees are not recognized as a tax and will be included in your channel fees. Length of stay conditions cannot be used, and not all channels, including Marriott, sync additional fees with Guesty.

If you're interested in setting up the SSL as an additional fee, please contact us at team.anz@guesty.com to discuss further.

Create SSL on the listing level

Step by step

Pro users Lite users

  1. Sign in to your Guesty account.
  2. In the top navigation bar, click the mode selector and select Financials mode.
  3. Click Properties.
  4. Click the relevant listing. If the listing is a multi-unit, make these changes by editing the main settings of the multi-unit. The changes will apply to all sub-units.
  5. In the left menu, click Pricing & Policies and select Tax configuration from the dropdown menu.
  6. Make sure the Use your account's default settings toggle is OFF, or the listing will use taxes set up on the account level. If you need to turn it off, read the information in the pop-up and click Confirm.
  7. Click New tax.
  8. Set up the basic tax settings:
    1. Tax type: Select Goods and services tax. 
    2. Name: Enter an identifying name, e.g. "Short Stay Levy".
    3. Invoice items to tax: Check the select all box.
    4. Tax amount: Select %, and enter "7.5" as the amount.
    5. Per: Select stay.
  9. Click Set additional conditions for this tax.

    Important:

    IMPORTANT: Conditions only apply to direct bookings (see table above).

    1. Select Length of stay.
    2. For "Reservations up to _ nights", enter 28.
  10. Click Continue.
  11. If your account is connected to Airbnb, select No, do not sync to Airbnb.
    1. Keep "Deduct this tax from the accommodation fee for Airbnb reservations" toggled OFF.
  12. Click Continue.
  13. Back on the "Tax configuration" page, at the top-right click Save tax configuration.

Adjust SSL in a reservation's guest folio

A line item cannot be deleted once it's been added in a reservation. However, you can make an adjustment in the guest folio to zero out the amount. Follow this process in the situations explained above for Vrbo, Marriott, and Booking.com, or for any other reservation where SSL is not required.

Note:

Accounting users: Understand how guest folio adjustments are reflected in the accounting folio and the owner statements.

Step by step

Pro users Lite users

  1. Sign in to your Guesty account.
  2. In the top navigation bar, click the mode selector and select Operations mode.
  3. Click Reservations.
  4. Select the relevant reservation.
  5. In the banner at the top, click Balance due.
  6. In the guest folio breakdown, click Adjust line item.
  7. Fill out the information in the pop-up:

    1. Select the SSL line item to adjust.

    2. Enter a description / reason for the adjustment.

    3. Enter the SSL amount as a negative number to adjust the total to zero.

    4. Accept or change realization date:

      • If the item is adjusted before check-in, the default realization date is check-in
      • If it is adjusted after check-in, the default realization date is the date the change is made
  8. Click Adjust.

Note:

If you have any questions or configuration concerns, please contact us at team.anz@guesty.com. 

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