Peer2Politics

For Airbnb, hotel is a touchy term. The word appears exactly zero times on the company’s “About Us” page, which instead describes Airbnb as a “trusted community marketplace” and a platform that “connects people to unique travel experiences.” Airbnb...

But the downside of the sharing economy has gotten much less attention. Most cities and states both tax and regulate hotels, and the tourists who stay in hotels are usually an important source of tax revenue (since governments have long recognized that a modest hotel tax is not likely to discourage most visitors nor provoke the ire of constituents). But many of Airbnb's customers are not paying the taxes required under the law.