NZ Short-Stay Accommodation Tax Calculator (Airbnb / Bookabach)
This calculator works out the income tax and GST position for anyone earning money from short-stay accommodation through Airbnb, Bookabach, Booking.com or direct bookings. You start by telling it whether the property is your main home rented occasionally, a bach or holiday home used both privately and for rent, or a dedicated short-stay property, then enter nights rented, nights of private use, your gross nightly rate, whether bookings come through an online platform, directly, or a mix of both, your GST registration status, annual running costs and your marginal tax rate. From these figures it calculates your vacant days and checks them against the 62-day test, works out the platform's 8.5% flat rate GST credit if you are not GST-registered, apportions your expenses between rental and private use, and returns your taxable rental income and income tax payable (or ring-fenced loss). Where you qualify, it checks the short-stay standard cost method against your actual-cost result to show which one leaves you better off, and flags if your income exceeds the $60,000 GST threshold or if 62 or more vacant days combined with private use pushes the property into the mixed-use asset rules. Use it to sanity-check your tax position before filing or to decide whether GST registration or the standard cost method suits you. Figures are indicative only; get advice from an accountant or Inland Revenue for your specific circumstances.
Property situation
Income
GST status
Actual expenses (annual, apportioned later)
The three tax layers for short-stay
1. Income tax: All rental income is taxable. Expenses are apportioned by the rental-days versus total-used-days ratio. Expenses for the 62 vacant days (if under 62) count as rental days if the property was genuinely available.
2. GST: If you're over the $60k turnover threshold, you must register. If not registered but booking through a platform, the platform collects 15% GST and pays you an 8.5% flat rate credit (keeping 6.5% for Inland Revenue). If you're registered, you handle GST yourself and the platform zero-rates supplies to you.
3. Capital event on cessation: If you're GST-registered and later deregister or sell, you'll trigger a deemed supply equal to the short-stay portion of the property's market value, and owe 15% GST on that. This is why voluntary GST registration is a trap for many short-stay hosts.
When the standard cost method makes sense
If you rent a room in your own home for ≤100 nights/year, the standard cost method ($63/night for owners) often beats actual cost claims, especially if your property has low running costs. No tax to pay on income up to the standard cost, no return to file, no apportionment calculations. Simple.
The 62-day vacancy trap
Properties vacant 62+ days per year AND used privately at any point fall into the mixed-use asset regime for income tax purposes. The rules disallow certain expense categories (e.g., losses from the 'holiday home effect') and can result in a messy apportionment. The GST mixed-use rule (section 20G) was repealed 1 April 2024, but the income tax mixed-use rules under subpart DG continue to apply.
Sources
- IRD - Short-stay and visitor accommodation
- IRD - Short-stay standard cost method
- IRD - Short-stay accommodation overview