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Washington did not enact a new Airbnb or vacation-rental tax under Senate Bill 5576. In the 2025 session, the bill proposed letting local governments impose a tax of up to 4% on certain platform-facilitated short-term-rental lodging, but it failed to reach a House floor vote before a key deadline and did not become law. Airbnb opposed the measure; reporting also identified legislative timing as a factor, so the outcome cannot be attributed to Airbnb alone.
What Washington’s 2025 proposal would have taxed
Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5576 (ESSB 5576) would have authorized a county, city, or town legislative body to impose a special excise tax on charges for lodging in qualifying short-term rentals facilitated through a platform. The proposed local rate could not exceed 4%. The Legislature’s official bill summary and history and the engrossed bill text describe a local-government option, not a tax that automatically applied statewide.
The proposal’s stated purpose was to give local governments a funding option for essential affordable-housing programs. The House Finance report describes the revenue as supporting housing-related services and facilities. The measure concerned qualifying platform-facilitated short-term-rental lodging; it should not be read as a tax on every rental or as a statewide tax that took effect.
Did the bill pass, and when did it stall?
The Senate passed SB 5576 on March 11, 2025, by a vote of 27–21. It then moved through House Finance and Appropriations. The official history records that it returned to Senate Rules on April 27, 2025, and contains no enactment entry. GeekWire reported on April 22 that the House had not called the bill for a floor vote before the April 16 cutoff. In practical terms, the proposal did not complete the legislative process and did not become law.
The initial bill and the version that passed the Senate were not identical. The original introduced version proposed a 6% state tax; the engrossed substitute shifted to an optional local tax capped at 4%. The 6% figure therefore does not describe the version that passed the Senate. The Legislature’s original bill text shows the introduced proposal, while the engrossed substitute contains the later version.
What Airbnb’s opposition did—and did not—establish
GeekWire reported that Airbnb opposed the proposal and quoted policy manager Jordan Mitchell saying the company was grateful for consideration of host and guest concerns and would continue working with the bill author and stakeholders on housing-affordability solutions that would not financially burden Washington residents and travelers.
The same report says sponsor Sen. Liz Lovelett attributed the bill’s stall to timing and hoped the policy could be revisited the following year. The supported conclusion is that the proposal failed to advance amid Airbnb opposition and legislative timing—not that Airbnb by itself caused its defeat.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What this means for hosts and guests
SB 5576 did not create a new Washington-wide short-term-rental tax. Its proposed maximum of 4% would have applied only if a local government chose to impose the measure and only to qualifying platform-facilitated lodging under the bill’s terms. The bill’s failure means this proposal itself did not authorize local governments to collect that special tax. It does not resolve what other taxes may apply to a particular stay under separate laws or local rules.
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