Tasmania's proposed short-stay levy: what Hobart hosts need to know

Tasmania's Short Stay Levy Bill 2026 has cleared the House of Assembly. It has not received royal assent. That distinction matters: this is a proposal, not law. Here is what it says, who it touches, and what a Hobart owner running a short-stay listing should keep an eye on.

What the bill proposes and who it covers

Treasurer Eric Abetz introduced the bill and tabled it on 16 April 2026. It sets a 5% levy on short-stay accommodation booked through a platform, for stays under 28 consecutive nights.

The guest pays it, not the owner. Abetz noted that around 83% of Tasmanian short stays come from interstate or overseas visitors, so most of the cost lands on non-resident tourism by design. The platform collects and remits, not the host. In practice, Airbnb or Stayz adds the levy to the guest's total and passes it to the government. The finer mechanics wait on regulations once the bill becomes law.

Several things fall outside it entirely:

• Direct bookings, host to guest with no platform in between.
• Hotels, pubs, bed and breakfasts, and caravan parks. All excluded.
• Owner-occupied homes, where the owner actually lives there. Rent out a spare room via Airbnb while living in the house, and you are not caught.
• Agri-tourism and farm-stays, defined as on-farm accommodation barred from residential use under the Tasmanian Planning Scheme. An amendment at committee stage carved these out.

Revenue is pencilled at $7 to $10 million a year, down from an earlier $11 million once the exemptions went in. It is earmarked for first home buyers: a stamp duty exemption on homes up to $750,000, and a $30,000 first home owner grant.

Where the bill stands and what to watch for

The House of Assembly passed it on 7 May 2026, 22 votes to 9, with the Liberals, Greens, and crossbench behind it. It had its first reading in the Legislative Council on 15 May 2026.

As at 1 June 2026, there was still no Short Stay Levy Act on the Tasmanian legislation index, so royal assent had not come by then. Whether the Legislative Council has since passed it, amended it, or sent it to committee is unconfirmed as this is written. Tourism Industry Council Tasmania's CEO has publicly pushed for an upper house committee referral, so a change or a delay is still on the table.

The start date has moved too. The original target was 1 July 2026. The bill the lower house passed says commencement "no earlier than 1 January 2027," with the exact day set by proclamation after assent. Until that proclamation lands and the regulations are published, the full compliance picture is not settled.

For owners listing now, the bill has solid lower house support and looks likely to become law. The useful preparation is simple: ask your platform how it will apply the levy to your listings, check whether you qualify for an exemption, and watch for the assent announcement.

The longer-term picture for investment property owners

The levy is built to tilt the economics from short-stay toward long-term tenancy, and its money flows straight into housing affordability. For a Hobart investor weighing the two, it is a real input. Not a direct cost to you, but a possible drag on occupancy and pricing if guests wear a 5% surcharge on top of the platform fees they already pay.

If you are wondering how the levy might land on a property you run short-stay, a free rental appraisal is a practical way to see what the long-term market looks like beside it.

And if you have questions about a property already under our management, we are always glad to work through it with you.