"Second home and room rentals represent a significant and growing segment of the new sharing economy, which presents a variety of tax and compliance complexities for micro businesses and private owners," said Scott McFarlane, Avalara's founder and CEO, said in a prepared statement. "This acquisition aligns with our strategy of extending our reach into new industries, providing more businesses with a single place to turn for all of their transactional tax requirements." The HotSpot platform is designed to help those renting homes or rooms to be tax compliance monthly. Its functions include obtaining and renewing required licenses, determining and collecting the appropriate taxes, preparing and filing tax returns, remitting payments, and tracking tax rate and law changes. The desire to serve more vertical markets was one of the factors in Avalara's recently announced reorganization of its channel program, a trend it noted includes the excise tax and retail business segments.