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The City of Bonavista has taken a new approach to dealing with airbnb hosts who represent unfair competition for hotels and bread-and-breakfast ins because they don't pay business taxes. They cut your sewer and water lines.
Bonavista cuts off services for Airbnb operators with unpaid business tax bills.
"We have gone to some pretty serious measures to collect. We have literally dug up driveways and turned off water (and) sewer service until the bill is paid, cutting them off completely from all municipal services.
-- Mayor John Norman
If people can't even drive their car onto your property, take a shower, use the toilet, you're pretty motivated to pony up.
The mayor said the taxation method has been successful, but he acknowledges not all Airbnb owners are pleased.
"I don't think some are happy about it, but it is what it is."
This is a pretty effective fix to unfair competition by airbnb hosts. The next question is, how can we apply the same thinking to uber and lyft?
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Wednesday September 11 2019, @01:37PM (5 children)
The law is being applied to illegal Airbnb operators who don't pay their taxes. How is using Airbnb listings to find illegal operators any different from looking on Kijiji or Amazon to catch illegal counterfeit knockoffs?
First rule of breaking the law - don't do it in public, because you're more likely to get caught.
Second rule of breaking the law - the consequences are that all the income taxes you dodged at the provincial/state/territorial and federal law are probably going to have to be paid.
Don't want to pay taxes, move to Somalia. They won't cut off your water or sewer because they don't have either.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 11 2019, @02:47PM (1 child)
Northern Somalia is actually quite nice. My nephew and his father recently visited, and had a great time.
https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwi3o76BgMnkAhUGJzQIHVWvCRIQFjALegQICRAB&usg=AOvVaw1XzfsR-DGUJBrrvrmU584n [google.com]
As for southern Somalia, if it wasn't for western Europe, Russia, and the US stealing all the fish from their territorial waters, then dumping their trash in said waters (including, from Russia, nuclear waste), the fisherfolk of Somalia would still be able to make a living fishing. Without fishing being viable, and with mariner skills, piracy became an attractive option.
Yes, of course, I get the point you were trying to make, but your example isn't really true for all of Somalia, and for the parts it is, there is a pretty terrible back-story of abuse by rich nations that forced the situation.
(Score: 2) by Pav on Thursday September 12 2019, @08:50AM
Maybe if they had a bigger tax base they'd be able to patrol their territorial waters.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday September 12 2019, @10:28AM (2 children)
There's no regulation outlawing Airbnb operators in this town. You're not even on the right page. Let me reiteration my objections given your present objections: 1) Airbnb operation is legal, 2) renting to others is not in itself a business, thus 3) being an Airbnb operator is not in itself a business. Hence, 4) no actual tax evasion has been demonstrated, it's an interpretation of the law by this town's government. A large part of the problem here is 5) that the town is taxing businesses more than residences. If 6) they didn't do that, they'd still have the tax base and 7) no reason to meddle in the affairs of Airbnb operators, creating barriers to providing temporary housing for people who need it.
You do realize that Somalia is better off now than when they had a unified national level government?
I find it interesting how this is all interpreted as paying taxes for civilization rather than the local nazis in power jerking peoples' chains in order to protect some local business cartels. Needless to say, I don't share that interpretation.
(Score: 3, Informative) by barbara hudson on Thursday September 12 2019, @11:28PM (1 child)
Being an Airbnb host is a business in Canada. Renting a spare bedroom to someone long term isn't, unless it's to more than two people or more than two rooms, in which case it's also classified as a business.
You can have fo people rent and share a house, but all 4 names have to be on the lease. If only one is, the other three are considered as rental income to the person or persons on the lease.
That's the law here, don't like it, don't ask for the benefits of it, like running water, working sewers, and a level playing field for business competitors.
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(Score: 0, Troll) by khallow on Friday September 13 2019, @02:56AM
What necessary permits? No necessary permits makes that statement just as true.
No, if you read the story, you'll find it's alleged nonpayment of taxes.
Unless, it's not, of course. I don't buy your assertion here.
This is why.