Henrico County, VA Short-Term Rentals: Host Platform Liability (2026)
Key Facts
- Who must collect
- Booking platform, not host
- Governing section
- Sec. 20-275(b)
- Monthly filing
- Property list + gross receipts
- Late penalty
- 10% of tax due
- Interest
- 10% per year
- Willful evasion
- Misdemeanor charge
Summary
In Henrico County, any booking platform that facilitates a short-term rental stay is treated as the retail seller under County Code Sec. 20-275(b) and must collect the transient occupancy tax on the room charge itself, not leave it to the property owner. The platform separately states and remits the tax to the county.
For any retail sale of accommodations facilitated by an accommodations intermediary, the accommodations intermediary will be deemed under this article as a facility making a retail sale of an accommodation. The accommodations intermediary must collect the tax imposed pursuant to this article, computed on the room charge. The accommodations intermediary must separately state the amount of the tax on the bill, invoice, or similar documentation and add the tax to the room charge; thereafter, such tax is a debt from the customer to the accommodations intermediary, recoverable at law in the same manner as other debts.
Full Breakdown
Under Henrico County Code Sec. " The platform, not the host, must collect the transient occupancy tax, computed on the room charge, separately state the tax on the guest's bill or invoice, and add it to the room charge. " Under Sec. 20-276(b), the platform must also report monthly to the county director of finance the property addresses and gross receipts for every Henrico accommodation it facilitated, either as a stand-alone filing or folded into its Sec. 20-276(a) monthly remittance. A host whose entire short-term rental business runs through a platform does not have to file separate monthly returns, but must attest annually, on the same date as the short-term rental registry renewal under Sec.
20-280, that every rental was in fact platform-facilitated under Sec. 20-276(d). Because the platform stands in the host's shoes for tax purposes, an owner who books a stay directly instead of through the platform is not off the hook either: Sec. 20-275(a) still makes the host collect and remit the tax on any accommodation sale it handles itself.
Violations & Fines
Failing to remit collected tax on time draws a 10 percent penalty on the tax due plus 10 percent annual interest under Sec. 20-277, assessed the day after the report or payment was due. Any officer or person who willfully fails to collect, account for, or pay over the tax, or who willfully evades it, commits a misdemeanor under Sec. 20-279.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a booking platform collect Henrico's occupancy tax for me?
Do I still have to file a tax return if my rental only books through a platform?
What happens if the platform doesn't remit the tax on time?
Can I be prosecuted if the platform fails to collect the tax?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Henrico County
Compare Henrico County to another location·View the Virginia short-term rentals overview
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