SF Chronicle – Airbnb ‘furniture tax’ generates $120,000 for San Francisco

July 21, 2016
San Francisco will bring in about $120,000 this year from its controversial “furniture tax,” which requires hosts on Airbnb and other vacation-rental sites to tally the contents of their homes so the city can levy a tax on everything from sheets to sofas to silverware. The average business personal property tax bill came to $60, said San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Carmen Chu, who sent notices in late March to 2,048 vacation-rental hosts giving them until May 7 to submit an itemized list of all the “furnishings, appliances, supplies, equipment and fixtures” used in their rentals. “State law is clear that if you have a rental operating to generate revenue, it is considered a business, and business personal property is taxable,” she said….
Source: http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Airbnb-furniture-tax-generates-120-000-for-8399617.php