Thursday, February 1, 2018
Toronto city council has approved a new tax on hotels and short-term accommodations like those listed on Airbnb and similar sites.
The 4% tax had won out over a surprise motion to hike the rate to 6%.
This move comes just days after the executive committee of John Tory Mayor had approved a 4% tax for short-term rentals.
Initially, the city staff and councilor were thinking about a higher rate of 10% for short-term rentals.
But then it seems that has changed in the recent months.
Last week Tory called the changes ‘fair and consistent’.
One of the critical questions raised the executive committee of the mayor was that who should be in charge of gathering the tax.
City staff had recommended entering into an agreement with the Greater Toronto Hotel Association and the several short-term rental companies to collect the funds.
The hotel industry had argued against the tax in the past.
It noted that the operators were already paying taxes and dealing with many regulatory issues. As part of the changes hotels would no longer be required to pay a destination marketing fee to Tourism Toronto.
Tags: Airbnb, John Tory Mayor, Toronto, Tourism Toronto
