#25581
TonyC
Flatchatter

    Well spotted, Jimmy.

    Accommodation taxes have never really taken off in Australia, for many reasons. So the possibility of an accommodation tax being introduced in New South Wales is remote.

    That’s not to say that the Australian Taxation Office is sitting idle – the same as it has the power to order banks to provide details of interest paid to its customers, it has the power to order AirBnb, Stayz, and other internet hosting services to provide details of its Australian hosts, and how much they are being paid. This income is of course taxable.

    And it’s not to say that owners corporations should sit idle – the extra wear and tear on the common property, higher insurance levies and extra garbage charges need to be paid for and the best way to do so is for owners corporations to impose a short-stay service levy on owners of short-stay apartments. But there are legal hurdles. Except for the recovery of extra insurance levies arising from a particular use of the strata lot. which is permitted under section 82 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015, a legislative amendment would be needed to authorize an extra levies for owners of short-stay apartments for wear and tear and garbage charges.