Los Angeles is Airbnb’s second largest market in the USA according to data from CBRE Hotels, which provides information to the real estate community.
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Home-sharing service Airbnb has been involved with several cities in negotiations over taxes and it has wrapped up the negotiation today with at least one major city: Los Angeles.
The Daily News reports (http://bit.ly/29RwQ0U ) city finance officials estimate that the deal announced Monday could bring in almost $6 million in annual revenue.
Last month, the Los Angeles City Planning Commission approved an ordinance that would prohibit Airbnb hosts from renting out their units more than 180 days a year, which marked the first set of regulations on short-term rentals.
Airbnb officials noted that had the city entered an agreement before 2015, the city might have received as much as $23 million in hotel tax revenue.
John Choi, public policy manager for Southern California, said in a statement that Airbnb hosts “want to pay their fair share”.
L.A. isn’t the first city to strike a deal with Airbnb to collect taxes from hosts as other states and cities have done so in the past.
“The hosts are required to pay that tax”, said City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana.
“This funding is a vital part of the city’s comprehensive efforts to address homelessness”, he said. The agreement with Airbnb will facilitate that process Airbnb already has similar agreements with cities such as San Francisco, Portland, and Newark, New Jersey.
He also called for “reasonable regulations governing the short-term rental industry”.
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For the upcoming fiscal year, city officials have budgeted the same amount expected to be collected from Airbnb – about $5.8 million – mostly toward “rapid re-housing” vouchers to assist homeless people with their housing costs.
