Airbnb properties in Jamaica to be taxed

Operators of Airbnb properties in Jamaica will soon be taxed.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett disclosed on Wednesday that the matter is now being discussed.

Mr. Bartlett, speaking on The Morning Agenda on radio station Power 106 (a member of the RJRGLEANER Group), said the government had also recognised that operating standards for that segment of the tourism market have to be set locally.

This, he said, will be done through the Tourism Product Development Company.

Omar Robinson, President of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, made the suggestion that taxes be levied on the Airbnb sector while addressing the organization's 58th annual general meeting in Montego Bay, St James, last weekend.

In response Opposition Spokesman on Tourism Dr Wykeham McNeill said he was in support of  these initiatives, in principle, but cautioned the government against going too far, “because sometimes we over-regulate and over-tax, and kill industries that could actually provide economic growth.”

He added that, rather than seeing Airbnb as a source of disruption, it should be embraced as an opportunity.