Airbnb bringing in nearly double the expected PST and municipal tax in B.C.

Last year, Airbnb agreed to remit provincial and municipal taxes to the Government of British Columbia.

So far, the arrangement — which is intended to improve “tax fairness” for all British Columbians — has proven to be nearly twice as lucrative than expected.

According to numbers Airbnb provided to Global News, the home rentals platform has handed over $14 million CAD in PST to the B.C. government in the first six months since it began collecting taxes on October 1st, 2018. The government says money generated from the PST will go towards creating affordable housing.

Further, Airbnb says it remitted an additional $4 million in municipal tax to the government. Each municipality will receive a portion of this tax to be used on tourism promotion funding.

When the agreement was signed last year, Airbnb estimated it would remit $16 million in its first year of tax collection. In just half that time, the company has already collected nearly half that amount, putting it on track to hit almost double the original estimated sum within the next six months.

The B.C. government is the only jurisdiction in Canada to require Airbnb to remit PST. Altogether, the tax works out to about 11 percent of the rental fee that would have gone to Airbnb prior to the deal.

Airbnb lists more than 31,000 B.C. homes on its platform.

Source: Global News