Short-Term Rental Sites in Boston Focus of Heated Debate

The most likely scenario will include taxes and regulations for short-term rental industry

Some Boston residents are blaming short-term rental sites like airbnb for making their apartment buildings feel more like hotels. 

Monday night, the Boston City Council held a public hearing on the matter. They're trying to figure out what to with short term-rental options like airbnb and FlipKey. 

The most likely scenario will include taxes and regulations for short-term rental industry. Many agree they are inevitable and long overdue. 

There’s talk about putting a cap on the number of units that could be rented out in one complex, a registry to keep track of hosts, and paying taxes similar to the hotel industry. 

While airbnb wants taxes and regulations, the industry leader also wants it all to be reasonable, leaving room to grow in Boston’s innovation economy. 

A bill to tax the home sharing industry never made it out of the state legislature last summer. But that’s expected to be taken up again in the next session. As for the city council, the hope is to have regulations and taxes in place by next spring. 

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