California Bill 584 just passed the assembly. It will add a 15% state tax to all short term rentals. What is Airbnb doing to block it?

[Neil39]

Can someone in Airbnb please respond to this?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Neil39 what do you think Airbnb should be doing?

[Neil39]

It will impact their bottom line just like it will impact ours, Owner and guests. Mark Middleton is their director for government affairs he should know the right approach.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Neil39 Yes I get that they will lose revenue IF they lose hosts but what do you expect them to do about it? It is easy to shout that its all very unfair but if legislators decide on something I just don't see what Airbnb can do about it.

[Neil39]

They can raise awareness to Airbnb owners to call their assembly member to have them vote no

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Neil39 

It is a CA Senate bill, SB 584, that passed the Senate first, then went to the House. If it has passed the House, it goes to the Governor for signature. After that comes about a  year and a half of hard work attempting to get rid of it  before it goes into effect in 2025.

[Neil39]

I would rather be proactive than reactive

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Neil39 

Many of us in Lodging and in Hospitality have already independently written letters to both Senate and House members. Many of us have also written to them through Airbnb's letter writing campaign in the last couple months. 

This legislation has potentially devastating effects on all of us, but most particularly on home share hosts who are not depleting the workforce housing stock, yet are included in the mandate to collect & remit this tax. Our guests already pay 11% TOT and this additional 15% would be a hardship likely for many, if not most. 

[Neil39]

it passed in the senate 27-11. Maybe the counties can put pressure on them since the tot tax revenue will be decreased

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Neil39 

The TOT tax is not decreasing that I have heard. In our county there will likely be a raise soon. Where did you find that information? This SB is a state tax, the TOT is local.

[Neil39]

Yep we pay 12.5 percent tot tax. I didn’t say it was decreasing

[Jamie362]

The tax does not apply to hotels, motels or bed and breakfast accommodations.  This is perhaps the way to go to fight it.

[James3024]

to me the answer is real simple, both Airbnb and VRBO should not let illegal operators on their platforms.
one of the reasons that the cities are not getting enough revenue to provide housing which every year it’s part of the general plan is because they’re not collecting the trans occupancy tax. The people that are operating legally that have business license permit and submit, their transient occupancy tax is carrying the burden of 90% of the short term rentals. 

the author of this Bill, SB 584 is Monique Limon, hometown of Santa Barbara. There is well over 1000 short term rentals that are operating illegally, there is only 100 that are operating legally.

if they could just collect the trans occupancy, tax of all the short term, rental operators, through the Airbnb website or VRBO website this 15% additional tax would not be needed.

This is what you need to let your congressman know.

[James3024]

we do not want what happened to New York to happen to California.
or they basically banned short term rentals.

now it’s mandatory that Airbnb collect the licenses fees or they cannot be on the platform.

that tax collection must happen for all terminal operators in California so the cities have the revenue they need to provide affordable housing.

I’d rather have that than the state telling the cities what to do.

[Jamie362]

I think perhaps the STVR industry will have a case for fighting this as the tax does not apply to hotels,  motels or bed and breakfasts.