1
Best for: Property managers who want every return filed and remitted for them at a printed rate
MonterraTax is the only service we read that prints a full service filing rate, a per property onboarding fee and a separate tax audit product on its own site. Its Filings & Remittance Full Service plan says it files and remits in every jurisdiction, manages submissions and rejections, communicates with jurisdictions and monitors permit expirations. The site states coverage of 50 states and every local jurisdiction and lists connections to Hostaway, Guesty, Hostfully, OwnerRez, VRPlatform and Track Hospitality. Its tax audit page describes rebuilding past liability from your property management data. Licensing and tax registration is a $199 per property add on.
Files and remits50 states statedTax audit servicePrice published
PricingFilings & Remittance Full Service is $39 per property per month plus a $289 one time onboarding fee per property. Real-Time Monitoring & Reports is $12 per property per month plus the same $289 onboarding, with you filing. Enterprise is a custom quote
ModelPer property monthly fee plus one time onboarding fee
2
Best for: Managers who want registration, renewals and filing handled in all 50 states with Avalara behind it
MyLodgeTax registers properties, renews licenses and, in Avalara’s words, prepares, files and remits taxes based on jurisdictional deadlines. Its cart page says it handles registration, renewals and filings in all 50 states, and its product page says it consolidates data from your property management system, Airbnb and Vrbo. For tax authority letters, the product page promises expert support to manage correspondence with tax authorities, which scores below a published audit service. It ranks second because audit support is described as correspondence help, not as an audit product.
Files and remitsAll 50 states statedNotice supportPrice on cart page
Pricing$39 per month per property plus a $299 one time setup and licensing fee per property, shown on the MyLodgeTax cart page. Discounts may apply over 50 properties
ModelPer property monthly fee plus one time setup fee
3
Best for: Owners and small managers who want permits and lodging tax filing in one yearly plan
Lodge Compliance prices the whole job per property per year. Its Stay Compliant plan includes lodging tax calculation, filing and remittance and permit renewals, and its team says it helps you resolve notices and discrepancies. The site states a compliance database of more than 80,000 jurisdictions across all 50 states, which is coverage of the database and not a statement of where it files, so filing coverage is scored at the middle tier. A custom Pro plan starts at 10 properties, so large portfolios need a quote.
Files and remitsPermit renewals includedNotice supportPrice published
PricingStay Compliant is $299.99 per year per property and includes lodging tax calculation, filing and remittance plus permit renewals. Get Compliant is $199.99 one time per property. Pro is custom for 10 or more properties
ModelPer property yearly plan, custom quote from 10 properties
4
Best for: Managers who already need a bookkeeper and want returns filed by the same team
A Vacation Rental Tax Specialist at Keystone files your returns, electronically or on paper, for every jurisdiction where you owe taxes, and the service sits on top of its bookkeeping packages. It works with Guesty Pro, Hostaway and OwnerRez. The site does not say it remits the payment, does not describe audit or notice support and states $35 per month per property on its filing page while its pricing page lists tax filing as an add on with no price, so it ranks fourth. If you do not want a bookkeeper, the bundle is not the right fit.
Files returnsBookkeeping bundleNo audit support foundPrice partly published
PricingThe vacation rental tax filing page states $35 per month per property bundled with its bookkeeping. Its pricing page lists tax filing as an optional add on with no price
ModelAdd on to a bookkeeping package, per property monthly
5
Best for: Management companies that want return packages prepared from property management system data across many jurisdictions
Hostax says it is built for the vacation rental industry and connects to the property management system you already use. It handles jurisdiction research, rate confirmation, OTA facilitator logic, calculation and documentation, then prepares the return: a complete mailer you send with one click for mail in jurisdictions, and a filing package ready for you to submit in portal jurisdictions. It keeps a record for every property, jurisdiction and filing cycle. It scores fifth because the customer completes the send, no price or count of places covered is published and the only audit mention is documentation records.
Prepares the packageBuilt for managersAudit documentationPricing not published
PricingNot published. The contact page asks for your property management system and number of properties
ModelNot published
6
Best for: Managers who want permits and licenses watched first and lodging tax returns prepared as an extra
HostReady’s pricing page says lodging tax returns are prepared for you, ready to send, and that the preparation is quoted on a call and billed separately as a small share of taxable bookings plus a monthly fee. We found no statement of which jurisdictions it prepares returns for and no audit support, and you send the return yourself. HostReady is stronger as a permit and zoning monitor, where it ranks first in our STR compliance tools list, than as a lodging tax filing service.
Returns preparedYou send the returnQuote on a callPermit monitoring
PricingMonitoring is $8.25 per month, billed annually, for one property. Autopilot licensing has a $149 one time setup per property plus a yearly fee. Lodging tax preparation is quoted on a call and billed separately
ModelMonitoring subscription plus separately quoted tax preparation
XimplifiAn accounting firm for vacation rental owners. Its CPA tax reporting page says it reconciles lodging and occupancy taxes and reports taxable income by unit and channel each month, and that it files 1099s and income tax returns. It does not say it files lodging tax returns, so it is not ranked.
STR ComplyTracks and alerts on rules for hosts. Its site describes monitoring, not filing a lodging tax return, so it is not ranked here. It is covered in our STR compliance tools ranking.