Listing intermediaries - property managers and agents

GST rules for listing intermediaries deal with situations when more than 1 person is involved in the supply of accommodation through an online marketplace from 1 April 2024. Common examples are property managers and agents.

Overview - listing intermediaries

A listing intermediary is a GST-registered person who lists short-stay and visitor accommodation on an online marketplace on behalf of the accommodation owner.

You are only considered a listing intermediary if you have entered into an agreement with an online marketplace to list or advertise accommodation provided by an owner. The agreement must be in your name (or trading name).

If you have not entered into an agreement with the online marketplace, you are not a listing intermediary. You must provide the online marketplace with relevant information about the owner, including the owner’s GST registration status and bank account information.

If you are a listing intermediary, you:

• need to administer the flat-rate credit scheme
• may need to help larger accommodation owners opt out
• may be able to agree with the online marketplace you will be responsible for the GST.

Collecting and paying GST on supplies

In most cases the online marketplace will collect and pay GST of 15% on accommodation (and any closely connected services) supplied through their online marketplace. This includes any services you may supply to the guest for a fee through the marketplace, such as cleaning or providing fresh linen.

You must treat these supplies of accommodation and any closely connected services as zero-rated in your GST return.

You are not required to provide taxable supply information to the online marketplace for these supplies.

In certain circumstances, you and the online marketplace can enter into an agreement stating that you will collect and pay GST of 15% on the supplies. To be able to enter into an agreement, you must:

• be a New Zealand tax resident
• list the accommodation provided by the owner on more than one online marketplace
• use an electronic system that automatically manages guests’ bookings. Common examples include Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that send information between your system and the online marketplace, or property management software you use to manage the bookings.

The online marketplace will remain responsible for providing the guest with taxable supply information.

Administering the flat-rate credit scheme

If you are a listing intermediary, you will need to administer the flat-rate credit scheme for non-GST-registered owners. This includes:

• passing on a flat-rate credit of 8.5% of the value of the supply to the non-GST-registered accommodation owner
• providing regular statements to the accommodation owner, showing the flat-rate credits passed on
• claiming a credit adjustment for the flat-rate credits in your GST return.

Calculating flat-rate credits

Calculate flat-rate credits based on the accommodation and any closely connected services provided by the owner. This means you do not include the value of any services you provide to the guest that you charge a fee for (such as cleaning or providing fresh linen).

Opt-out for large accommodation owners

Some owners can choose to opt out of online marketplace GST rules, so they remain responsible for collecting and paying GST and issuing taxable supply information themselves.

Opt-out rules for large accommodation owners

Owners choosing to opt out

If you deal with the online marketplace on behalf of an owner who meets the opt-out criteria and wants to opt out, you may need to do 1 of the following:

• notify the online marketplace that the owner is opting out
• liaise with the owner and online marketplace so they can enter into an opt-out agreement.

Only owners can opt out using these rules. For example, if you list more than 2,000 nights of accommodation on an online marketplace for your owners, you cannot get an opt-out agreement with the online marketplace to become liable for GST because you list more than 2,000 nights of taxable accommodation.

You also cannot group your owners together to apply for an opt-out agreement on their behalf, so that they still collect and pay GST and issue taxable supply information.

Owners can only opt out if they individually meet the criteria for opting out.

Listing intermediary responsible for GST on supplies of accommodation

If you have agreed with an online marketplace that you will collect and pay GST of 15% on supplies of accommodation, the owner needs to do 1 of the following to opt out:

• notify you they are opting out (if they make more than $500,000 of supplies in a 12-month period)
• enter into an opt-out agreement with you (if they meet 1 of the other opt-out criteria).

When you operate a website or app

If you also operate a website or app that allows guests to book accommodation from accommodation owners, you will be an online marketplace for those bookings. 

For more information about how the rules apply to online marketplaces, see our factsheet AD278.