After years of complaining about how Airbnb?doesn?t compete on a level playing field, apparently the hotel lobby in New York now wants to ensure that the peer-to-peer hospitality startup isn?t held to the same standards, especially as it relates to taxes.
Airbnb has taken steps to ensure that it will be able to begin collecting hotel occupancy taxes, possibly as soon as this summer. It?s just waiting on legislators and local regulators to give it the green light to do so in markets like San Francisco and New York.
But it seems the hotel lobby in New York doesn?t actually want Airbnb to pay hotel taxes, it just wants to?complain?about Airbnb not paying hotel taxes.
In a blog post this morning, Airbnb noted a shift in rhetoric from the same leaders in the hotel industry that were slamming the startup and its hosts for not paying the same tax that they do.
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Source: Ryan Lawler (2014). Airbnb Offers To Pay Hotel Taxes In NY, Hotel Lobby Says ?No Thanks?, TechCrunch http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/17/airbnb-hotel-taxes-hotel-lobby-flip-flop/ published Apr 17, 2014. Viewed Apr 22, 2014.