A slight majority of Islanders support the same tax standards for renting private residences as other paid accommodations, such as hotels and motels.
That’s according to a recent survey conducted by Corporate Research Associates Inc. (CRA)
Online accommodations booking services, such as Airbnb, are commonly used to rent privately owned houses, apartments or other residences. There has been debate surrounding whether these accommodations should be taxed and regulated to follow the same standards that apply to hotels and motels.
Just over one-half, 53 per cent, of Island residents completely or mostly support rented private residences being taxed and regulated to follow the same standards as other paid accommodations in the province.
Meanwhile, four in 10 residents either completely or mostly oppose rented private residences and other paid accommodations having the same taxes and regulations.
Across Atlantic Canada, support in P.E.I. for rented private residences being taxed and regulated in the same manner as other paid accommodations is similar to such support in Nova Scotia (50 per cent) and Newfoundland and Labrador (50 per cent) but is higher compared to such support in New Brunswick (42 per cent).
“There continues to be considerable public debate related to the treatment of privately rented accommodations in Canada in terms of both taxation and regulation,’’ said Don Mills, chairman and CEO of CRA. “The majority view on the Island is that such accommodations should be both regulated and taxed in the same manner as other commercial accommodations.’’
These results were part of the CRA Atlantic Quarterly, an independent, quarterly telephone survey of Atlantic Canadians, and are based on a telephone sample of 264 adult Prince Edward Islanders, conducted Nov. 1-30.
