Short Stay Levy Act 2024

The Act centrally relies on a few statutory constructs that determine scope, liability and administration.

• Short stay and short stay accommodation. “Short stay” is occupation for a continuous period of less than 28 days (s 3). “Short stay accommodation” is any premises that can accommodate a person, subject to a specified list of exclusions (s 5(1)-(2)). Exclusions are wide and detailed: principal place of residence of an owner or renter (with the Commissioner empowered to treat certain rental agreements as avoidance devices) (s 5(2)(a), s 5(4)(b)); commercial residential premises under the GST Act (s 5(2)(b)); residential care facilities, retirement villages, registered rooming houses, student accommodation provided by eligible higher education providers, supported residential services, temporary crisis accommodation, and accommodation connected with a facility for persons with a connection to the facility such as contractors or employees (s 5(2)(c)-(i)). The Act clarifies that mixed use and mobility do not alter the classification: whether premises are used for more than one purpose or are temporary/mobile is irrelevant (s 5(3)).

• Booking platform and booking platform provider. The Act defines “booking platform” by function: a person provides a booking platform if they carry on the business of facilitating requests to book a short stay and arranging or facilitating acceptance of those requests by or on behalf of short stay accommodation providers (s 4(1)). That definition is agnostic to whether the service uses a website, automated systems, payment facilitation or the physical location of the provider (s 4(2)(a)-(d)). The Act excludes mere referral services that send a user to another service to make the booking (s 4(3)). The statutory consequence is that booking platform providers are directly liable for the levy on bookings made through their platforms (s 12(1)).

• Total booking fee and calculation base. “Total booking fee” is the total amount payable for the booking, excluding amounts waived/refunded on cancellation and payment method fees (s 7(1)(a)-(b)). The definition explicitly includes amounts “in respect of the short stay levy” and “in respect of GST,” and any amount payable for a period during which the person does not occupy the premises unless waived or refunded (s 7(2)(a)-(c)). The levy rate is 7.5% of the total booking fee, rounded down to the nearest multiple of 5 cents (s 13(1)-(2)).

• Liability allocation and special occupier rules. Liability for platform bookings rests with the booking platform provider (s 12(1)). For direct bookings, the renter is generally liable where the direct booking is with the renter or an occupier under an occupancy agreement with the renter; in any other direct booking case, the owner is liable (s 12(2)). A person who occupies premises under an occupancy agreement (other than owner or renter) and accepts direct bookings must pay the owner or renter, for each return period, the amount of the levy for occupier bookings completed during that period and any GST in respect of that amount (s 15(1)). That occupier must also pay interest and penalty tax to the owner or renter if the occupier fails to make those payments and a tax default arises (s 15(3)). Section 15 takes precedence over occupancy agreement terms until the parties expressly agree otherwise or an occupancy agreement allows review or termination (s 15(6)).

• Registration, returns and threshold. Persons who provide booking platforms, or owners or renters for whom direct bookings are made, must apply to register for payment (s 17(1)). The return period depends on whether the person exceeded an annual threshold of $75,000 in relevant booking fees in the prior year; exceeding that threshold produces quarterly reporting (s 16(1)-(2),(3)). Registered persons must lodge returns and pay within 30 days after the end of the return period; returns are required even where no liability arose during the period (s 18(1)-(2), s 18(3)).

• Administrative discretion. The Commissioner is given operational responsibilities: forms and information for applications/returns/declarations are “determined by the Commissioner” (s 17(3), s 18(3), s 21(3)). The Commissioner must register a person on receipt of an application (s 17(4)), may cancel registrations for any reason (s 20(1)), and may determine whether premises are short stay accommodation for purposes of imposing joint liability under the declaration provisions (s 21(5)).

• Interaction with other laws and enforcement. The Act is to be read with the Taxation Administration Act 1997; interest and penalty tax consequences referenced in ss 15 and 21 are those imposed under Part 5 of the Taxation Administration Act (s 8, s 15(3), s 21(5)). Section 9 binds the Crown, but expressly states that nothing makes the Crown liable to be prosecuted for an offence under the Act (s 9(1)-(2)).

These concepts produce a levy architecture where price quotes, the inclusion of GST, the platform model, occupancy agreements and recordkeeping all materially affect who pays, who reports, and compliance mechanics.

The Act carves the market into specific legal actors and assigns obligations accordingly. The statutory classes affected are booking platform providers, owners, renters, persons who occupy premises under occupancy agreements and accept direct bookings (occupiers), and the Commissioner as administrator.

• Booking platform providers. Defined functionally as those carrying on the business of facilitating short stay booking requests and arranging acceptance (s 4(1)), booking platform providers are the primary target for bookings made through platforms: they are statutorily liable to pay the levy for bookings made through their platforms (s 12(1)). The definition reaches providers irrespective of where they are located (s 4(2)(d)) and regardless of whether they provide a website or automation (s 4(2)(a)-(b)). The Act requires booking platforms to receive and retain declarations that premises are not short stay accommodation (s 21(1)-(4)). If the Commissioner later determines premises are short stay accommodation, both the declarant and the booking platform provider are jointly and severally liable (s 21(5)), although the platform can recover from the declarant as a debt (s 21(6)).

• Owners of premises. Owners (freehold owners, lessees/licensees of Crown land where applicable) are liable for the levy in particular direct booking configurations: if a direct booking is made with neither the renter nor a person occupying under an occupancy agreement with the renter, the owner is liable (s 12(2)(c)). Owners who receive payments from occupiers under s 15 must receive, at least for each return period, the amount of the levy for occupier bookings and GST in respect of that amount (s 15(1)). Owners must provide declarants to booking platforms where required under s 21(1).

• Renters. Renters are repeatedly placed as the primary liable person for direct bookings made with them or made with someone who has exclusive occupation under an occupancy agreement with the renter (s 12(2)(a)-(b), s 16(3)(c)). Renters must register when direct bookings are made in their premises (s 17(1)(b)) and lodge returns and pay within 30 days of the end of the return period (s 18(1)). The Commissioner may consider a residential rental agreement entered into to avoid payment of the levy when deciding whether premises are the renter’s principal place of residence for the purposes of exclusion from “short stay accommodation” (s 5(4)(b)).

• Occupiers under occupancy agreements. People who have exclusive occupation under an occupancy agreement but are not owners or renters and who accept direct bookings have a specific statutory payment obligation to the owner or renter for occupier bookings completed during each return period, including GST on that transferred levy amount (s 15(1)(a)-(b)). If the occupier fails to pay and a tax default occurs for the owner or renter, the occupier must pay interest and penalty tax (s 15(3)). Section 15 can override occupancy agreement terms until the parties expressly agree otherwise or the agreement permits review/termination (s 15(6)).

• Guests. While the Act does not directly impose obligations on guests, it defines the taxable base as the “total booking fee” payable by guests and establishes that liability falls on platforms, owners or renters. The statutory design therefore permits the economic incidence to be shifted onto guests by altering quotes and prices, although the Act itself assigns legal liability to named market actors (s 7, s 12, s 13).

• Booking referral services. The Act excludes services that merely refer a person to another service for the purposes of making bookings (s 4(3)). Such referral services will generally be outside the booking platform definition and thus outside the primary platform liability rule.

• The Crown. The Act binds the Crown (s 9(1)), which means that Crown-held or controlled premises potentially fall within scope. However, the Act states that nothing in it makes the Crown liable to be prosecuted for an offence (s 9(2)), which may alter enforcement dynamics where Crown entities are concerned.

• Commissioners and agencies. The Commissioner has direct administrative responsibilities: determining forms and information for registration, returns and declarations (s 17(3), s 18(3), s 21(3)); registering applicants (s 17(4)); cancelling registrations (s 20(1)); and determining whether premises are short stay accommodation for joint liability under the declaration regime (s 21(5)). The Taxation Administration Act 1997 will supply the enforcement toolkit referenced in the Short Stay Levy Act (s 8).

A particular profile emerges: platform providers, including foreign entities that meet the functional test, are asked to be collection agents and statutory taxpayers for platform bookings (s 4, s 12(1)), while owners, renters and occupiers fill in gaps for direct bookings with layered retrieval mechanics (s 12(2), s 15). Administrative burdens fall on all these players through registration, returns, record retention (including five-year retention for declarations s 21(4)), and potential joint and several liability where declarations are later found incorrect (s 21(5)).

The Act allocates specific duties and confers administrative entitlements that drive compliance obligations.

Key duties

• Payment of the levy. The primary legal duty is to pay the short stay levy in accordance with the statutory allocation of liability. Booking platform providers must pay the levy for platform bookings (s 12(1)); owners or renters must pay in the direct booking cases specified (s 12(2)). The rate is 7.5% of the total booking fee (s 13(1)), and amounts are rounded down to the nearest 5 cents (s 13(2)). Liability for the levy arises when the short stay is completed (s 11).

• Registration. Persons who provide booking platforms or are owners or renters with direct bookings must apply for registration before the end of the first return period in which they become liable (s 17(1)-(2)). The Commissioner must register a person if the Commissioner receives an application (s 17(4)).

• Returns and payment timing. Registered short stay levy payers must lodge a return and pay the levy within 30 days after the end of the return period (s 18(1)). A return must be lodged even if no levy is payable in that period (s 18(2)). The Commissioner specifies the form and content of returns and the information required to determine liability (s 18(3)-(4)).

• Notification of changes. Registered payers must notify the Commissioner if they stop incurring liability and expect not to in future, within 14 days of the relevant date (s 19(1)-(2)). The Commissioner must cancel registration on receipt of such notice (s 19(3)).

• Declarations and record retention. Owners and renters must provide booking platform providers with a declaration when premises are not rented under a residential rental agreement and are available for platform bookings but are not short stay accommodation (s 21(1)-(2)). Booking platforms must retain such declarations for not less than five years (s 21(4)). The Commissioner prescribes the form and information required for such declarations (s 21(3)).

• Occupier payments. Persons who occupy premises under an occupancy agreement and accept direct bookings must pay owners or renters the levy for occupier bookings and any GST payable in respect of that levy for each return period (s 15(1)-(2)). They must also cover interest and penalty tax if the occupier’s non-payment results in an owner/renter tax default (s 15(3)).

• Provision of returns to occupiers. Owners/renters must provide occupiers with a copy of the return lodged with the Commissioner for occupier bookings on request (s 15(4)).

• Record-keeping and evidence. The Commissioner determines the content and form of returns, registrations and declarations (s 17(3), s 18(3), s 21(3)), imposing recordkeeping on registered payers and booking platforms (s 21(4)).

Key rights and administrative entitlements

• Right to recovery. Booking platform providers or owners/renters who pay a levy under certain joint liability provisions may recover the amount from a declarant or other liable person as a debt in a court of competent jurisdiction (s 15(5), s 21(6)).

• Right to registration. The Commissioner is obliged to register a person who submits an application in the required form and containing necessary information (s 17(3)-(4)). This creates a procedural right to registration for applicants who comply with the procedural requirements.

• Commissioner discretion. The Commissioner has procedural power to cancel registration for any reason considered appropriate (s 20(1)). The Commissioner also has evaluative authority to determine whether premises are short stay accommodation for the purposes of ss 5 and 21, and to apply the Taxation Administration Act 1997 enforcement machinery (s 8, s 21(5)).

• Transitional immunity for pre-1 January 2025 bookings. A substantive right for those who made bookings before 1 January 2025: s 10 does not apply to bookings made before that date irrespective of when completed (s 23).

• Binding but non-criminal Crown exposure. The Crown is bound to the Act (s 9(1)) but cannot be prosecuted for an offence under it (s 9(2)), a provision that alters the enforcement framework in matters involving the Crown.

Administrative process implications

• Forms and process determined by the Commissioner. The Commissioner sets application, return and declaration formats and required information (s 17(3), s 18(3), s 21(3)). That creates a single point of procedural control and potential source of compliance complexity.

• Interaction with Taxation Administration Act 1997. Enforcement (interest, penalty tax, tax default consequences) is administered under the Taxation Administration Act, which supplies the enforcement and collection toolkit (s 8; see also references to Part 5 penalties in ss 15 and 21).

The Act therefore places detailed payment, registration and information duties on platforms, owners, renters and occupiers and gives the Commissioner both procedural obligations and discretion to manage registration and compliance processes.

The Short Stay Levy Act 2024 integrates enforcement primarily through administrative tax mechanisms and cross-references to the Taxation Administration Act 1997 rather than inventing a separate criminal scheme.

• Enforcement framework. The Act is to be read together with the Taxation Administration Act 1997, which “provides for the administration and enforcement of this Act and other taxation laws” (s 8). The Act repeatedly references interest and penalty tax imposed under Part 5 of the Taxation Administration Act in relation to occupier non-payment and joint liability under declarations (s 15(3), s 21(5)). Therefore, the practical enforcement measures,assessments, notices, interest, penalties, recovery processes, garnishee mechanisms and other tax collection powers,will be those available under the Taxation Administration Act. The Act itself does not recast or set specific monetary penalties within its text.

• Interest and penalty tax. If an occupier fails to pay the amounts required under s 15 and a tax default occurs because the owner/renter fails to pay the short stay levy for occupier bookings, the occupier must pay any interest and penalty tax imposed under Part 5 of the Taxation Administration Act on that levy (s 15(3)). Similarly, if a person makes a declaration under s 21 and the Commissioner determines the premises are short stay accommodation, the declarant and the booking platform provider are liable jointly and severally for the levy and any interest and penalty tax imposed under Part 5 of the Taxation Administration Act if a tax default occurs (s 21(5)). These cross-references import the TAA’s penalty and interest regime.

• Debt recovery rights. The Act permits civil recovery as a debt in a court for amounts payable by occupiers to owners/renters under s 15(5) and allows booking platform providers who pay amounts under joint liability provisions to recover the amount from the declarant as a debt (s 21(6)). These are standard civil recovery routes that sit alongside tax collection powers.

• Registration cancellation. The Commissioner may cancel a registered short stay levy payer’s registration by written notice for any reason the Commissioner considers appropriate (s 20(1)). Cancellation takes effect on the date specified in the notice (s 20(2)). Cancellation could be used as an enforcement or compliance tool but the Act does not specify procedural safeguards, review rights or appeal mechanisms within these provisions; those mechanisms will likely exist in the Taxation Administration Act or other administrative law frameworks.

• Declarant and platform joint and several liability. The declaration mechanism (s 21) imposes a risk of joint and several liability on both the declarant and the booking platform provider if the Commissioner later determines the premises are short stay accommodation. This exposes platforms to retrospective financial obligations where a declarant’s statement proves incorrect.

• Rounding and calculation precision. The levy is to be calculated as 7.5% of the total booking fee and rounded down to the nearest multiple of 5 cents (s 13(1)-(2)). The Act’s rounding rule limits fractional disputes in cents, but the interaction with the total booking fee definition (which includes amounts in respect of the levy and GST) creates calculation complexity that could generate assessment disputes.

• Crown and prosecutions. The Act expressly binds the Crown (s 9(1)) but provides that nothing in the Act makes the Crown liable to be prosecuted for an offence (s 9(2)). This means that enforcement against Crown entities cannot be criminal prosecution under the Act, although civil or administrative remedies may still apply as consistent with other laws.

• Commissioner-determined forms and information. Because the Commissioner determines the forms and information required for registration, returns and declarations (s 17(3), s 18(3), s 21(3)), enforcement can be operationalised through compliance with prescribed forms and the power to assess based on information furnished or withheld.

• Transitional immunity. Bookings made before 1 January 2025 are explicitly excluded from the levy (s 23), which constrains retrospective enforcement for pre-commencement bookings.

Net effect: the Act uses the Taxation Administration Act 1997 as its enforcement backbone. That design channels compliance disputes, interest and penalty charges, recovery actions and administrative enforcement into the existing tax administration system rather than creating bespoke criminal offences (subject to whatever criminal provisions exist in the Taxation Administration Act).

The Act expressly situates itself in a network of other statutes and administrative regimes and creates cross-references that determine practical operation.

• Taxation Administration Act 1997. The Short Stay Levy Act is to be read together with the Taxation Administration Act 1997, which supplies the administrative and enforcement machinery (s 8). The Short Stay Levy Act references interest and penalty tax under Part 5 of the Taxation Administration Act (s 15(3), s 21(5)), and requires returns, registration and payment processes that will be operationally managed under the Commissioner’s powers as exercised within the framework of the Taxation Administration Act. Consequently, the procedural protections, objection and review rights, and enforcement steps that apply to tax assessments and defaults will be relevant and will govern dispute resolution and debt collection in practice.

• Owners Corporations Act 2006. Section 1(b) records that one of the Act’s purposes is to amend the Owners Corporations Act 2006 in relation to prohibiting the use of lots as short stay accommodation. The printed text here does not contain the specific amending provisions to that Act; nevertheless, the declared purpose indicates a legislative intent to affect strata/owners corporation rules concerning short stay use of lots. Legal practitioners must consult the Owners Corporations Act as amended or secondary instruments to identify the operative prohibitions and enforcement mechanisms effected by that amendment.

• Commonwealth GST law and A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999. The Act imports the meaning of “GST” from the GST Act (s 3), and excludes “commercial residential premises” as defined in section 195-1 of the GST Act from short stay accommodation (s 5(2)(b)). The Short Stay Levy Act also treats GST as included within the total booking fee base (s 7(2)(b)), which has implications for the interaction of the levy with GST in pricing and accounting. Practitioners will need to resolve how GST-exclusive and GST-inclusive pricing interacts with the statutory base, and how the short stay levy is treated for GST input tax credit purposes, recognising that the Short Stay Levy Act itself does not alter GST law.

• Residential Tenancies Act 1997 and related state statutes. The Act cross-references the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 definition of “residential rental agreement” (s 3) and excludes registered rooming houses and temporary crisis accommodation as defined in that Act from short stay accommodation (s 5(2)(e), s 5(2)(h)). Section 5(4)(b) allows the Commissioner to conclude that a residential rental agreement is entered into for the purposes of avoiding payment of the levy and thus to treat the premises as not being the renter’s principal place of residence. These interactions point to potential regulatory overlap with tenancy law and the potential for administrative determinations to affect tenancy classification.

• Land Tax Act 2005, Retirement Villages Act 1986, Supported Residential Services (Community Visitors) Act 2010, Higher Education Support Act 2003. The Act excludes a number of defined accommodation types that are regulated under these statutes from the short stay levy (s 5(2)(c)-(g)). Compliance and classification disputes may require coordination with the statutory definitions and registers under those Acts.

• Road Safety Act 1986. The Act imports the Road Safety Act’s definition of “vehicle” for its own definition of “premises” (s 3), thereby formally capturing caravans and vehicles in the definition of premises where relevant.

• Administrative law and judicial review. The Commissioner is vested with determinative powers that may be subject to administrative law review, for example in determinations that premises are short stay accommodation for the purposes of joint liability under s 21(5) or cancellation of registration under s 20(1). The Act does not itself set out appeal or objection procedures; those will arise under the Taxation Administration Act or general administrative law mechanisms.

• Contract law and occupancy agreements. Section 15 has specific effect “despite the terms of any occupancy agreement, but only until” parties expressly agree otherwise or an agreement’s review/termination rights are triggered (s 15(6)). This provision temporarily displaces contractual allocation of costs between occupiers and owners/renters and creates a statutorily imposed payment duty that can be varied by subsequent contractual agreement.

• Criminal law and Crown immunity. The Act binds the Crown (s 9(1)) but specifies that nothing in the Act makes the Crown liable to be prosecuted for an offence under the Act (s 9(2)), so interactions with criminal sanctioning will be limited when the Crown is involved.

Practitioners advising clients should therefore map the short stay levy obligations onto this matrix of GST law, tenancy law, strata/owners corporation law and the Taxation Administration Act, and consider whether valuation, classification or administrative decision points could trigger inter-act statutory conflicts or require coordinated compliance across regimes.

The version supplied is Version No. 002 incorporating amendments as at 1 January 2026. The Act received assent on 29 October 2024 and commenced on 1 January 2025 (s 2; Endnotes). The publication’s endnotes and Table of Amendments indicate there have been subsequent editorial updates affecting style and one repeal entry noted in the Table of Amendments:

• Commencement and transitional items. The Act commenced on 1 January 2025 (s 2) and contains a transitional provision that expressly excludes from s 10 any short stay booking made before 1 January 2025, regardless of completion date (s 23). This preserves pre-commencement bookings from the levy.

• Repeal of Part 6. The Table of Amendments notes that “Pt 6 (Headings and ss 24-34) repealed by No. 40/2024 s. 34.” The endnotes clarify that s 34 repealed Pt 6 on 1 January 2025. The present printed Act is the consolidated text incorporating that repeal.

• Style and technical amendments. The endnotes mention that Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984 (ILA) style changes affect headings, notes and punctuation that form part of the Act (Endnotes, “INTERPRETATION OF LEGISLATION ACT 1984 (ILA)”). These are editorial and formatting changes authorised by the ILA.

• No listed substantive amendment entries in explanatory details. The endnote section 3 “Explanatory details” reports no entries at date of publication. The Table of Amendments provided is primarily technical,recording commencement dates, repeal of Pt 6 and style changes.

• Purposes clause. The Act’s s 1 records the legislative purposes that include an intention to amend the Owners Corporations Act 2006 and the Taxation Administration Act 1997. Those consequential amending provisions do not appear in the sections printed here, so one must consult the consolidated statutes or amending instruments to identify the precise textual amendments to those Acts if required.

Because the printed consolidations include only the Short Stay Levy Act itself and note the repeal of a heading/Part 6, practitioners should check the official consolidated legislation database and the amending Acts to ensure there have been no further substantive amendments since 1 January 2026. The Act’s endnote references to the legislative history (second reading speech dates) are recorded for context but do not substitute for checking subsequent amending instruments.

The printed Act contains no citations to cases and does not record any litigated disputes under its provisions. The endnotes list ministerial second reading speeches and dates for parliamentary consideration (Legislative Assembly 28 August 2024; Legislative Council 12 September 2024) and record assent and commencement dates, but they do not provide any court decisions. As such, there is no litigation history contained in the supplied text.

Given this absence, practitioners should anticipate the types of disputes likely to arise and track future litigation, including:

• Classification disputes. Challenges about whether particular premises constitute “short stay accommodation” under s 5, especially mixed-use properties, mobile premises, or arrangements alleged to be avoidance devices for the principal place of residence exclusion (s 5(3)-(4)).

• Joint and several liability cases. Disputes stemming from declarations under s 21 where platforms or declarants dispute the Commissioner’s subsequent determination that premises are short stay accommodation and the resulting joint liability (s 21(5)-(6)).

• Calculation and base disputes. Litigation over the proper calculation of the levy where total booking fee includes the levy and GST (s 7(2)(a)-(b), s 13), particularly where pricing is inclusive and the statutory definition appears circular.

• Administrative law challenges. Judicial review of Commissioner decisions: cancellation of registration under s 20(1), determinations of classification under s 21(5) and possibly enforcement steps arising from the Taxation Administration Act’s application (s 8).

• Cross-jurisdictional enforcement. Actions touching on extraterritorial enforcement against booking platform providers located outside Victoria but captured by the booking platform definition (s 4(2)(d) and s 12(1)), potentially raising service, jurisdiction and recognition issues.

Because the Act is new and references the Taxation Administration Act for enforcement, early judicial guidance will likely come through tax proceedings, administrative law challenges and perhaps declaratory relief in civil courts. Practitioners should monitor appeals and first-instance decisions carefully to understand interpretive questions, especially around the definitions and calculation methodologies.

This Act contains several concrete drafting and operational interactions that can produce compliance surprises if not attended to.

• Liability allocation vs economic incidence. The Act assigns legal liability to booking platforms for platform bookings (s 12(1)) and to renters/owners for various direct booking configurations (s 12(2)). However, the statutory assignment of legal liability does not prevent economic incidence being shifted to guests through pricing. Platforms and hosts must therefore be clear in accounting whether the listed price includes the levy and how it is displayed; the Act’s definition of “total booking fee” includes amounts in respect of the levy and GST (s 7(2)(a)-(b)), which complicates calculation.

• Circularity in the definition of total booking fee. Section 7(2)(a) expressly states that the total booking fee includes any amount included “in respect of the short stay levy.” Combined with s 13(1) making the levy 7.5% of the total booking fee, this creates a potential circularity: when a platform lists a single all‑inclusive price that already purports to include the levy, the levy amount must be calculated as 7.5% of that inclusive total. The Act does not specify whether the 7.5% is to be computed on a pre-levy base or on a grossed-up inclusive total. Practically, platforms must decide whether to quote a price inclusive of the levy and then calculate the statutory amount as 7.5% of that quoted price, or to show the levy added on top. This drafting choice affects accounting, reported revenue and the levy amount remitted. The rounding down rule (s 13(2)) slightly mitigates cent-level disputes but not the fundamental sequencing ambiguity.

• Levy-on-GST interaction. The total booking fee includes GST (s 7(2)(b)), so the levy base is GST-inclusive, creating an effect similar to a tax-on-tax unless business practice separates components. Platforms and hosts should determine how GST is treated when computing net revenue and when remitting GST and the levy; the Act itself does not resolve whether the levy is deductible, nor its GST treatment.

• Platforms outside Victoria. The definition of booking platform expressly disregards the provider’s location (s 4(2)(d)); booking platform providers located outside Victoria are nonetheless statutory taxpayers in respect of bookings on their platform (s 12(1)). Practical enforcement against non-resident platforms raises collection and jurisdiction challenges, and platforms may face registration obligations even if operationally remote. The Act does not include specific service-of-process or withholding regimes for offshore providers, so operational compliance mechanisms will be crucial.

• Declarant and platform joint liability. Platforms accepting declarations that premises are not short stay accommodation must retain such declarations for five years (s 21(4)). If the Commissioner later determines the premises were short stay accommodation, both the declarant and the platform are jointly and severally liable (s 21(5)). Platforms therefore face retrospective civil risk and must decide how stringently to vet declarants or whether to require indemnities or evidence. Declarants face similar risk if they misrepresent facts.

• Occupier payment mechanics and contractual displacement. Section 15 imposes a statutory payment duty on occupiers under occupancy agreements who accept direct bookings, “despite the terms of any occupancy agreement,” but only until parties expressly agree otherwise or the agreement is reviewable/terminable (s 15(6)). That temporarily displaces private contract allocations and may produce disputes about whether parties have validly altered arrangements.

• Return period volatility tied to threshold. The return period depends on whether the person exceeded a $75,000 annual threshold in relevant booking fees in the previous year (s 16(1)-(2),(3)). New entrants and seasonal providers may flip between annual and quarterly reporting year-to-year, creating planning and cash-flow volatility because quarterly reporting accelerates payment cadence.

• Commissioner discretion and cancellation. The Commissioner must register applicants who comply with procedural requirements (s 17(4)) but may cancel registrations “for any reason the Commissioner considers appropriate” (s 20(1)). The absence of stated objective limits in s 20 raises administrative uncertainty until guidance or jurisprudence clarifies the exercise of that power.

• Crown treatment. The Crown is bound but not criminally prosecutable under the Act (s 9(1)-(2)), which may alter enforcement solutions where Crown-held premises are involved.

• Recordkeeping and form dependence. The Commissioner determines forms and required information for registrations, returns and declarations (s 17(3), s 18(3), s 21(3)). That centralisation means compliance relies on timely and clear administrative instruments from the Commissioner; delayed or ambiguous forms could generate widespread compliance risk.

• Transitional booking exemption. Bookings made before 1 January 2025 are carved out (s 23). Practitioners must carefully identify whether a booking falls into the pre-commencement exemption, especially where bookings straddle the commencement date or where platform systems auto-adjust.

Those “gotchas” show that implementation choices (inclusive vs itemised pricing, vetting declarants, offshore platform registration, occupancy agreement drafting) will have material legal and economic consequences that are rooted in specific sections (especially ss 7, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 21).

Compliance involves operational, accounting and legal steps for booking platforms, owners, renters and occupiers. The Act assigns practical obligations that require internal controls, system changes and documented processes.

1. Identify whether the business is captured.

• Booking platforms: assess whether your business meets the functional test in s 4(1) , facilitating booking requests and arranging acceptance , even if you do not provide a website or are located outside Victoria (s 4(2)(a)-(d)). Exclude pure referral services as defined in s 4(3).
• Owners/renters/occupiers: establish whether premises constitute “short stay accommodation” (s 5), checking exclusions in s 5(2) (principal residence, commercial residential premises under GST law, residential care facilities, retirement villages, registered rooming houses, student accommodation by eligible providers, supported residential services, temporary crisis accommodation, and facility-connected accommodation). Where classification is ambiguous, obtain legal advice and consider seeking Commissioner guidance or a binding ruling if available under the Taxation Administration Act.

2. Registration and returns.

• Apply for registration under s 17 before the end of the first return period in which liability arises (s 17(2)). The application form and required information will be as determined by the Commissioner (s 17(3)); monitor Commissioner instruments and guidance.
• Determine return period based on whether your relevant booking fees exceeded $75,000 in the previous year (s 16(1)-(3)). If you exceeded the threshold, prepare for quarterly returns commencing 1 January, 1 April, 1 July and 1 October; otherwise plan for annual returns timed to the calendar year (s 16(1)).
• Lodge returns and pay the levy within 30 days after the end of the return period (s 18(1)). Even if no liability exists in a return period, return lodgment is mandatory (s 18(2)). Ensure systems can produce the Commissioner-prescribed form and required information (s 18(3)-(4)).

3. Pricing, invoicing and calculation processes.

• Decide pricing presentation: the Act’s total booking fee includes amounts “in respect of the short stay levy” and GST (s 7(2)(a)-(b)), which can produce circularity if price quotes are presented as a single inclusive amount. Consider whether to show the levy as a separately itemised line to simplify compliance and transparency. If quoting inclusive prices, ensure accounting systems can compute the statutory levy as 7.5% of that total (s 13(1)) and apply the rounding rule to the nearest lower 5 cents (s 13(2)).
• Account for GST interactions. The levy base may be GST-inclusive (s 7(2)(b)), so coordinate with tax advisers to determine GST treatment of the levy and how it interacts with input tax credit claims and GST reporting under Commonwealth law.

4. Declarations and record retention.

• Where premises offered on a platform are not short stay accommodation (per s 21), ensure that owners or renters complete the prescribed declaration in the Commissioner’s form (s 21(1)-(3)). Platforms must retain declarations for at least five years (s 21(4)).
• Implement verification processes for declarants. Given joint and several liability (s 21(5)), platforms should collect supporting documentation and maintain an audit trail to defend against future Commissioner determinations, and consider indemnities in platform-host contracts.

5. Occupier agreements and contractual amendments.

• If occupiers under occupancy agreements accept direct bookings, ensure occupancy agreements or subsequent written amendments expressly allocate payment responsibilities if parties wish to depart from the default statutory position (s 15(6)). Until then, occupiers have a statutory duty to pay owners/renters the levy and GST on that amount for occupier bookings (s 15(1)-(2)). Maintain processes to transfer those levies and to provide owners/renters with copies of returns on request (s 15(4)).

6. Systems, reporting and reconciliation.

• Systems should be able to extract the total booking fee for bookings completed during a return period, excluding waived/refunded amounts and payment method fees (s 7(1)). Develop reconciliation procedures for completed stays since liability arises on completion (s 11).
• Implement exchange-rate rules for foreign-currency bookings: convert foreign currency amounts to Australian dollars using the Reserve Bank of Australia rate published on the day booking made, or the last published rate before that day if a rate is not published on that day (s 14).

7. Risk management.

• For platforms, manage counterparty and credit risk by requiring declarants to warrant the accuracy of declarations and to indemnify the platform for any levy, interest and penalty tax payable if the Commissioner later determines the premises are short stay accommodation (s 21(5)-(6)). Consider insurance products or escrow arrangements where practical.
• For owners/renters, ensure occupancy agreements address potential liability shifts and repayment obligations where occupiers collect revenue and are required to remit levies (s 15(1)-(3)). Consider contractual clauses to compel provision of returns and to enable recovery of amounts as debts (s 15(5)).

8. Administrative engagement.

• Engage early with the Commissioner on forms and guidance. Because the Commissioner determines forms and required information for registration, returns and declarations (s 17(3), s 18(3), s 21(3)), early engagement will reduce ambiguity and compliance delays.
• Prepare notification procedures for s 19: when ceasing to incur liability, notify the Commissioner within the prescribed timeframes (s 19(1)-(2)) to trigger cancellation of registration (s 19(3)).

9. Legal and tax advice.

• Obtain legal and tax advice on classification issues, GST interplay, accounting for the levy, cross-border platform liabilities and potential application of the Taxation Administration Act’s enforcement mechanisms. Coordinate advice between commercial contracting counsel and tax accountants to align platform terms, host agreements and accounting systems.

10. Monitor for updates.

• Track Commissioner determinations, forms, guidance and any amendments to the Owners Corporations Act, Taxation Administration Act or other linked statutes. The Act’s practical operation will be shaped by Commissioner instruments and any litigation that clarifies definitions and calculation methods.

Concrete checklist for a platform operator:

• Map all listings that relate to Victoria and tag them for levy applicability.
• Implement extraction of completed stays by completion date (s 11).
• Ensure invoicing captures the “total booking fee” and componentises GST and any separately stated levies for reporting and remittance (s 7).
• Register under s 17 before first liable return period ends.
• Retain owner/renter declarations for five years and require supporting evidence.
• Configure conversion of foreign currency bookings using RBA published rates (s 14).
• Prepare to remit levies within 30 days after each return period (s 18) and to respond to Commissioner information requests.

Following these steps, and documenting processes tied to the Act’s specific sections (s 4, s 5, s 7, s 11-13, s 15, s 16-19, s 21), will materially reduce operational and legal risk while meeting statutory obligations.