If property owners who rent out homes and apartments on the popular home-sharing site Airbnb were to pay taxes as hotels do, the city of Los Angeles would collect an extra $41 million each year.
That is one of the conclusions of a study commissioned by the American Hotel and Lodging Assn., the trade group for the country’s hotel industry, which has pushed for greater regulation of Airbnb and other home-sharing sites.
“Hotels compete on a daily basis to provide the best guest services,” said Vanessa Sinders, the senior vice president of government affairs for the trade group. “We welcome competition but we want to make sure there is a legal and level playing field.”
Airbnb spokeswoman Alison Schumer called the study “inaccurate,” saying it was “intended to mislead and manipulate.” Schumer said Airbnb has been working with the Los Angeles officials to create a way to pass along taxes to the city.
The study, conducted by a Pennsylvania State University professor with funding from the hotel trade group, focuses on the impact of Airbnb on Los Angeles. It follows a similar study by Penn State on Airbnb’s effect on Phoenix and the entire nation. The trade group is expected to release reports for other cities.
All of the studies have reached a similar conclusion:
Read rest of the article at: LA Times
