Charlottetown working with province, Airbnb on short-term rental levy

The Charlottetown tourism levy is set to roll out new rules to include short-term rentals on January 1st, but city staff say there is a lot of work to be done in order to be ready for that date.

'It's important that we try to dot all our I's and cross as many T's as we possibly can'

Natalia Goodwin · CBC News · Posted: Oct 03, 2019 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: October 3, 2019

The City of Charlottetown plans to roll out the levy on short-term rentals by January. (Kerry Campbell/CBC News)

The City of Charlottetown is set to roll out new rules for the tourism levy to include short-term rentals on Jan. 1, but city staff say there is a lot of work to be done to be ready for that date.

The levy is a tax added to the customer's bill, with the money going toward tourism marketing. It is currently set at three per cent on accommodations that run year-round — with ten or more rooms — with some exceptions. In August, council made the final decision to extend the levy to include all tourism accommodations, including short-term rentals.

Now that change has to be implemented.

"The challenges now exist around getting short-term rentals, regulations and bylaws in place," said Wayne Long, events development officer for the city.

The change is expected Jan. 1.

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Creating a master list

There are a few issues complicating things. One of the most important, said Long, is the creation of a master list so the city can properly police who is paying and who isn't.

Wayne Long, events development officer for the city, says they are working hard to try and get a master list of vendors written. (Randy McAndrew/CBC )

"The city is going to have a role in terms of being the bylaw body to ensure … that bodies are collecting and we will do everything that we can to possibly get to that end result," said Long.

"But it will take some time."

The city has been working with the province to try and get a list of all the vendors it is aware of, but ran into a snag around privacy.

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In an email statement, the Department of Tourism said "this list was collected for the purpose of licensing. The city's purpose was not seen as related. While it was deemed we could not provide personal data to the city, Tourism P.E.I. offered to communicate the city's message to licensed accommodations on behalf of the city."

Long said the province has been helpful and is also using its researchers to help find as many operators as possible, and the city is also using third-party researchers to find operators.

Who will collect the levy?

The city also needs to figure out how the levy will be collected through third-party websites like Airbnb. Long said they continue to communicate with these sites to work out details.

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Airbnb said they are willing to work with the city to put something in place.

"Airbnb is committed to working with individual communities across Canada to develop smart regulations that support responsible home-sharing," said Alexandra Dagg, public policy manager with the company.

"When it comes to accommodation taxes, our community wants to pay its fair share and ensure local governments can benefit from the economic impact of home sharing. We have agreements in more than 400 jurisdictions globally to collect and remit tourism taxes on behalf of our hosts and guests."

Long said he hopes it can all come together by the Jan. 1 deadline.

"I think that it's important that we try to dot all our I's and cross as many T's as we possibly can with such a roll out, it's such a wide swath that it's going to take some time in order to get it to where we want it to be at the end result."