Testimony — Hope Ledford, Chamber of Progress, on HB 5139 (June 11, 2026)

Summary

Letter dated June 11, 2026, from Hope Ledford, Director of Civic Innovation Policy, Chamber of Progress, to The Honorable Mike Hoadley, Chair of the House Committee on Economic Competitiveness, urging support of HB 5139. The letter states that the bill makes the online booking platform the single point of tax collection and remittance on short-term rental and other lodging bookings and relieves individual hosts of duplicative registration and filing. It states that since 2017 Airbnb has voluntarily collected and remitted Michigan’s sales tax on its hosts’ bookings, and that in 2024 this generated $27 million in state sales tax. It also cites more than 2.1 million Airbnb guests across Michigan in 2024, generating $1.3 billion in economic activity and supporting 17,500 jobs.

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Full text

                                                   June 11, 2026



The Honorable Mike Hoadley​
Chair​
House Committee on Economic Competitiveness​
Room S-1288, Cora B. Anderson House Office Building
124 North Capitol Avenue
Lansing, MI 48933

Re: Support HB 5139

Dear Chair Hoadley and members of the Committee:

On behalf of Chamber of Progress – a tech industry association supporting public policies to
build a more inclusive society in which all people benefit from technological advancements – I
write to respectfully urge you to support HB 5139, which modernizes how Michigan collects
tax on short-term rental and other lodging bookings. The bill makes the online booking
platform the single point of tax collection and remittance, and it relieves individual hosts of
duplicative registration and filing. The result is a simpler, more uniform, and more reliable
system for hosts, platforms, and the state alike.

A single, reliable point of collection already works in Michigan

Under HB 5139, a booking platform with nexus in Michigan collects and remits the use tax due
on every booking it facilitates, regardless of whether the individual host would independently
owe the tax. Michigan already has years of experience showing this model works. Since 2017,
Airbnb has voluntarily collected and remitted Michigan’s sales tax on its hosts’ bookings
directly to the state Treasury,1 and in 2024 that voluntary collection generated $27 million in
state sales tax.2

HB 5139 takes that proven, platform-based approach and writes it into a clear, uniform
statutory standard that applies consistently across booking platforms, capturing revenue
efficiently at the point of sale and reducing the leakage that occurs when collection depends
on thousands of individual filers.

1
  “Airbnb Reaches Home Sharing Tax Agreement with State of Michigan.” DBusiness Magazine, 2017.
https://www.dbusiness.com/daily-news/airbnb-reaches-home-sharing-tax-agreement-with-state-of-michigan/
2
  Airbnb. “New Michigan Tourism Proposal Could Deliver Over $20M a Year Locally for Essential Services, Touts 70 Percent
of Voter Support.” Airbnb Newsroom, Oct. 31, 2025.
https://news.airbnb.com/new-michigan-tourism-proposal-could-deliver-nearly-20m-a-year-locally-for-essential-services
/

          progresschamber.org | 1390 Chain Bridge Rd. #A108 | McLean, VA 22101 | info@progresschamber.org


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HB 5139 cuts red tape for individual hosts

Most Michigan hosts are everyday residents renting out a room or a single property to
supplement their income, not professional operators with accounting departments. HB 5139
recognizes this. When a host’s bookings all run through a platform that is required to remit
the tax, the host no longer has to separately register under the Use Tax Act or file periodic
returns. Instead, the host files a single annual attestation confirming that arrangement. That
is a meaningful reduction in paperwork and compliance risk for ordinary Michiganders, and it
lets hosts focus on hosting rather than on tax administration.

Efficient collection strengthens Michigan’s visitor economy

Short-term rentals are a fast-growing part of Michigan’s visitor economy, reaching
communities in every corner of the state, including towns without hotels. In 2024, more than
2.1 million Airbnb guests stayed across Michigan, generating $1.3 billion in economic activity,
supporting 17,500 jobs, and producing $355 million in tax revenue.3 Collecting the tax owed
on those lodging bookings efficiently, at the platform rather than host by host, means the
state and the communities that host visitors receive that revenue more completely and
predictably. HB 5139 is the mechanism that makes Michigan’s accommodations tax
modernization workable in practice.

For these reasons, we respectfully urge you to support HB 5139.
​
Sincerely,




Hope Ledford
Director of Civic Innovation Policy




3
    Airbnb, October, 2025.



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