Wonder Vacation Homes settles in with tax compliance
Results
Improved processes
Integrated systems
Enabled growth
Summary
Results
- Improved processes
- Integrated systems
- Enabled growth
Tax challenges
- Compliance risk
Process inefficiency
Product used
Avalara MyLodgeTax
Prepares and files lodging tax returns and remits tax payments for short-term rental owners and managers.
Benefits
- Confidence in automated processes
- Easy integration
- Improved scalability
Industry type
Lodging
Simplify lodging tax compliance, whether you rent out a single property or operate a hospitality chain.
Company overview
Customer
Wonder Vacation Homes
Industry
Lodging
Tax type
Lodging tax
Founded in 2015, Wonder Vacation Homes is a full-service, luxury vacation rental management company. The company started with a few properties in the Orlando area, and today manages more than 120 homes from Orlando to Miami.
Bruno Scarabottolo, the company’s founder and president, comes from a long line of hoteliers. Originally from Brazil, he’s the third generation of his family to enter the hospitality business.
Tax challenges
Applying lodging tax isn’t as simple as just adding a percentage. For example, in Florida, rental companies are obligated to collect and pay lodging taxes at multiple jurisdictional levels. Those levels aren’t consistent across the state either. Depending on the location of the property, up to three different lodging taxes may apply.
“From the beginning, at the founding of Wonder Vacation Homes, I knew this was something we wanted to automate,” remembers Bruno. “Starting on day one.”
Why Avalara?
Bruno did an internet search and discovered Avalara MyLodgeTax, among other options. He was struck by the product’s clean, modern interface and the fact that it’s a 100% cloud-based solution.
“What put Avalara over the top was that they answered the phone right away and engaged immediately,” he says. “None of the other providers did that.”
Tax challenges
- Compliance risk
Process inefficiency
Product used
Avalara MyLodgeTax
Prepares and files lodging tax returns and remits tax payments for short-term rental owners and managers.
Benefits
- Confidence in automated processes
- Easy integration
- Improved scalability
Industry type
Lodging
Simplify lodging tax compliance, whether you rent out a single property or operate a hospitality chain.
“I measure the value of MyLodgeTax in time savings and risk reduction. We are adding new properties very quickly, so that value increases as we grow.”
—Bruno Scarabottolo
Founder and President
“I measure the value of MyLodgeTax in time savings and risk reduction. We are adding new properties very quickly, so that value increases as we grow.”
—Bruno Scarabottolo
Founder and President
Implementation
Avalara’s tax experts worked with Bruno to get his properties set up and complete the necessary registrations, based on which state and local licenses were required for each.
“It takes a little time to get everything properly registered, which makes sense given the complexity of the tax landscape and the volume of properties we manage,” Bruno says. “Although registrations are necessary with each additional jurisdiction, the implementation is quite easy over all, and you only have to do it once.”
He goes on to say, “The ability of Avalara MyLodgeTax to integrate with my accounting system only enhances that increasing value, and that was a factor in our decision to choose Avalara MyLodgeTax over its competitors.”
Results
Now that he’s set up, Bruno only has to log in once a month and report the rental revenue for each property. From there, Avalara MyLodgeTax calculates, collects, files, and pays the taxes automatically.
There’s a lot of competition in the Florida short-term rental market, and now Bruno can keep his employees completely focused on marketing, booking, and delivering luxury vacation experiences for his owners and guests.
“Our customers may be in a rental home,” he says, “but they think they’re in a five-star hotel. They expect a very high level of service, concierge support, the works. That’s the stuff that makes our business run better, and we couldn’t differentiate ourselves so well — and grow so fast — without the ease and scalability of Avalara MyLodgeTax.”
