This topic of TOT back taxes strikes me as very wrong. I have recently been informed by SAN DIEGO COUNTY that not only do I need to start paying Transient Occupancy Tax for the unincorporated area of La Mesa in San Diego County but they also want me to pay 5 years of back taxes from when I opened the Airbnb in 2020. This will be in the ball park of 6K. I spoke briefly to a real estate attorney and he said this is simple embezzlement on behalf of the city. They just decided to identify Airbnb owners and send out letters in the last few months asking for TOT and TOT back taxes from every Airbnb owner in the unincorporated areas of SD. The attorney's advice was to pay it since 6K is less than I would have to pay him to fight it. He still said it was embezzlement so I still don't feel right about it. He also said if there ends up being a Class Action Suit I should get the money back anyway so I might as well pay it in the meantime. Thoughts???
