Utah lawmakers looking to crack down on Airbnb tax cheats
Oct 21, 2022, 4:14 PM
FILE: LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 03: The Airbnb logo is displayed on a computer screen on August 3, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
(Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY — State lawmakers have their eyes on short-term rentals — like Airbnb — for new, tougher tax regulations. No bill has been filed yet, but lawmakers are looking for ways to shut down tax cheats.
Republican Rep. Calvin Musselman, who represents Weber County, said many people rent property in areas where it’s not allowed.
He said in his county 40 rental properties are licensed compared with more than 800 which are not.
Musselman said many people are renting homes and apartments without using apps like Airbnb and without a sales tax license. Therefore, he said, some people are not turning the appropriate taxes over to the state.
“The way the law works is you would have to solely and only rent your property through one of the platforms. If you rented it one time outside of the platform, you’d be responsible to remit the tax,” he said.
Lawmakers are also looking at how short-term rentals are impacting the housing market.
Unlicensed short-term rentals “might have affected affordability and for certain availability of housing stock,” Musselman said.
