Post by High Priestess on May 25, 2016 14:57:10 GMT
See the article:
www.tbo.com/list/news-opinion-editorials/editorial-doug-beldens-correct-stand-on-airbnb-20160428/
Hillsborough County Tax Collector Doug Belden isn’t going to sign an agreement with an online home-booking agency AIrbnb , even if it might cost the county tax millions in revenue.
And he is absolutely right.
As the Tribune’s Jeff Schweers found, the Florida Department of Revenue and tax collectors in Pinellas and four other counties have signed agreements with Airbnb, a website that rents homes and other private dwellings, that allow state and local tourist taxes to be added to the prices people are charged for rent.
It could be worth millions in revenue.
Nevertheless, Belden won’t submit to the company’s demand that its agreements with government agencies remain secret.
Belden believes the firm’s demand violates the state’s public record law.
“Before I sign anything, I am going to be sure it’s legal,” Belden says. “What they are doing violates Chapter 119 (of Florida statutes).” Belden worries about leaving the public and the media in the dark about the tax-collection arrangements. The state Department of Revenue and Pinellas and other counties are not as conscientious about the public’s right to know.
They are more interested in generating additional revenue. That’s understandable, but doesn’t justify flouting the law.
As Schweers reports, the Department of Revenue refused to provide the Tribune with a copy of its Airbnb agreement. The newspaper managed to obtain a copy from the Palm Beach County Tax Collector’s Office, which sued the state agency for a copy of the terms.
It says the tax collector agrees not to communicate with “any other person or entity regarding the terms of and negotiations related to this agreement, including but not limited to the press, on the Internet, or another form of media, except with prior written permission of Airbnb or as is expressly permitted by law.”
This is an outrageous abrogation of the law.
Such secrecy, as Belden points out, allows the company to fashion different agreements with different counties.
And as Palm Beach Tax Collector Anne Gannon says, the names and addresses of people renting their homes would be kept secret, even though they should be required to get a business license, register with the county and pay taxes. With secret agreements, there would be no way to tell if they are complying.
And as Belden points out, the secrecy also would keep officials from determining if the renters are violating zoning restrictions by establishing commercial operations in residential areas.
The home-renting industry has been avoiding paying the taxes that other hospitality facilities must pay, so it is understandable that officials would greet Airbnb’s efforts to start paying at least a portion of those taxes.
Perhaps a different arrangement for this kind of enterprise can be justified, but all the details should be transparent to the public.
As Belden puts it:
“We need to know it makes sense for taxpayers. It is a public record, period. We can’t be involved with being secretive about things the people are entitled to know.”
Some thoughts on this: other cities have signed on to secret agreements with Airbnb in exchange for ease of collecting taxes. Airbnb has made it extremely simple and effective for cities to collect taxes in these locales. It sounds like there is a compromise involved, as indicated above, by the Palm Beach Tax Collector who obtained a copy of said secret agreement ---- "the names and addresses of people renting their homes would be kept secret, even though they should be required to get a business license, register with the county and pay taxes. With secret agreements, there would be no way to tell if they are complying." This is the first "glimpse" that any of us have obtained into these secret agreements -- and it does suggest that when a city enters into such an agreement with Airbnb, it relinquishes some rights -- such as the right to obtain data from Airbnb about hosts in that city. THis is something that I think hosts can be grateful for as this suggests that government in those cities will be unable to be intrusive and seek access to private data, as some city governments are doing or have attempted to do from Airbnb (notably, New York City, which subpoenaed Airbnb to provide data, and San Francisco, which has demanded access to data on hosts in San Francisco but has not thus far obtained it -- and now is considering (as is Los Angeles) forcing Airbnb to engage in law enforcement and police hosts in its city....)
www.tbo.com/list/news-opinion-editorials/editorial-doug-beldens-correct-stand-on-airbnb-20160428/
Hillsborough County Tax Collector Doug Belden isn’t going to sign an agreement with an online home-booking agency AIrbnb , even if it might cost the county tax millions in revenue.
And he is absolutely right.
As the Tribune’s Jeff Schweers found, the Florida Department of Revenue and tax collectors in Pinellas and four other counties have signed agreements with Airbnb, a website that rents homes and other private dwellings, that allow state and local tourist taxes to be added to the prices people are charged for rent.
It could be worth millions in revenue.
Nevertheless, Belden won’t submit to the company’s demand that its agreements with government agencies remain secret.
Belden believes the firm’s demand violates the state’s public record law.
“Before I sign anything, I am going to be sure it’s legal,” Belden says. “What they are doing violates Chapter 119 (of Florida statutes).” Belden worries about leaving the public and the media in the dark about the tax-collection arrangements. The state Department of Revenue and Pinellas and other counties are not as conscientious about the public’s right to know.
They are more interested in generating additional revenue. That’s understandable, but doesn’t justify flouting the law.
As Schweers reports, the Department of Revenue refused to provide the Tribune with a copy of its Airbnb agreement. The newspaper managed to obtain a copy from the Palm Beach County Tax Collector’s Office, which sued the state agency for a copy of the terms.
It says the tax collector agrees not to communicate with “any other person or entity regarding the terms of and negotiations related to this agreement, including but not limited to the press, on the Internet, or another form of media, except with prior written permission of Airbnb or as is expressly permitted by law.”
This is an outrageous abrogation of the law.
Such secrecy, as Belden points out, allows the company to fashion different agreements with different counties.
And as Palm Beach Tax Collector Anne Gannon says, the names and addresses of people renting their homes would be kept secret, even though they should be required to get a business license, register with the county and pay taxes. With secret agreements, there would be no way to tell if they are complying.
And as Belden points out, the secrecy also would keep officials from determining if the renters are violating zoning restrictions by establishing commercial operations in residential areas.
The home-renting industry has been avoiding paying the taxes that other hospitality facilities must pay, so it is understandable that officials would greet Airbnb’s efforts to start paying at least a portion of those taxes.
Perhaps a different arrangement for this kind of enterprise can be justified, but all the details should be transparent to the public.
As Belden puts it:
“We need to know it makes sense for taxpayers. It is a public record, period. We can’t be involved with being secretive about things the people are entitled to know.”
Some thoughts on this: other cities have signed on to secret agreements with Airbnb in exchange for ease of collecting taxes. Airbnb has made it extremely simple and effective for cities to collect taxes in these locales. It sounds like there is a compromise involved, as indicated above, by the Palm Beach Tax Collector who obtained a copy of said secret agreement ---- "the names and addresses of people renting their homes would be kept secret, even though they should be required to get a business license, register with the county and pay taxes. With secret agreements, there would be no way to tell if they are complying." This is the first "glimpse" that any of us have obtained into these secret agreements -- and it does suggest that when a city enters into such an agreement with Airbnb, it relinquishes some rights -- such as the right to obtain data from Airbnb about hosts in that city. THis is something that I think hosts can be grateful for as this suggests that government in those cities will be unable to be intrusive and seek access to private data, as some city governments are doing or have attempted to do from Airbnb (notably, New York City, which subpoenaed Airbnb to provide data, and San Francisco, which has demanded access to data on hosts in San Francisco but has not thus far obtained it -- and now is considering (as is Los Angeles) forcing Airbnb to engage in law enforcement and police hosts in its city....)