The tax haven claims are absurd as all airbnb payments go electronically into bank accounts - no cash changes hands. So it is not airbnb’s fault if foolish people don’t declare their impossible to hide incomes. Oh so foolish as the money is easily trackable as an electronic payment into a bank account. Business dealing cash are much more problematic as tax havens becasue cash is easy to hide.
You only need one sentence to be defamatory to have to pay out big time in defamation cases. People have even got smallish but still lucrative payouts for having their photos published under wrong names ie a photo of Mrs Sally Smith appears as Mrs Jane Jones - ching ching payout.
So because you had a good experience with them, the public does not have the right to know that AirBnB is very disruptive in big cities, they do not care about local laws and are manipulating data.
It is fine, if you personally like to bury your head in the sand, but the public has the right to know that AirBnB is not as nice as they claim to be.
What was not true? These were all goed examples of what can happen, if you do not prepare yourself as a guest or as a host.
But you only seem to focus on the first part of the program. The second part was far more interesting, and I would applaud people, for not using AirBnB for ethical reasons, based on the second half of the program.
No they are not.
Avoiding taxes and hiding income with AirBnB is very easy.
Paypal provides the ideal platform for this. Paypal is like having a bank account on the Cayman’s, no one will be able to check the balance.
Actually, cash transfers are a lot harder to handle, especially in large amounts. And where do you safely store 4 or 5 digit amounts in cash?
Paypal is safe, and I can buy anything from my Paypal account, every online store accepts Paypal.
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Sorry I can’t agree with your journalistic analysis of this story. It is clearly in the public interest for people to be aware of how one of the world’s fastest growing company’s works.
Just because something has worked well for you and your guests doesn’t mean that things haven’t and don’t go wrong for both guests and hosts.
Yes they picked out some disaster stories - that’s what journalists do - it makes for a more interesting story. They are certainly representative of some people’s experience. They also talk about the impact BNB also undoubtedly has had on communities and cities.
Just because you don’t like the way BNB was presented doesn’t make it biased or inaccurate or untruthful.
I have had great experiences as a host, less so as a guest, but this doesn’t blind me to the fact that some guests and host have had awful experience (just like at the AIRBNB forums) and that there has been a huge social impact in some areas.
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Incorrect. PayPal accounts can be audited just like any other. To liken a paypal account to an offshore banking account is misleading.
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We use PayPal to receive income at our main business, so I know that in the USA, PayPal also issues a 1099 form to report income to the government.
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Explain how they can audit an account they do not even know exist.
They can only be audited if they know it exists and is linked to a certain person.
It is very easy to set up an anonymous Paypal account. It is like one of those numbered Swiss bank accounts you were able to get in the past. They only had a number, but no information about the owner.
Paypal, is very well know all over the world, to be one of the best places to hide your money.
Maybe you have different regulations with PayPal; ours has use your name and be linked to your bank account.
I think you’re right though; PayPal is used to pay for stuff normally; in years of Airbnb I’ve never once had anyone ask me about my PayPal account and I do think it’s an easier way to hide moved if you were that way inclined. Questions always centre on bank accounts and savings accounts.
Well I think you re in the UK, so I don’t know about Europe. But here in the US, I had to give my social security number upon opening my paypal. Most people also link their bank accounts to their paypal. So unless I had an offshore bank account, how am I going to hide an audit trail? You make a deposit to your bank from paypal and it clearly states it was a paypal transaction. Also, as someone pointed out, they send out 1099s. You’re dreaming to think Paypal can be used to hide money.
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Can’t be the UK because we can’t set up anonymous PayPal accounts here. Always linked to your name address and either credit card or bank account.
Here in the UK they are not audited though; I’ve always wondered how I can transfer thousands from PayPal to my bank account and not be asked about money laundering or taxes.
Well every transaction is given an ID number so you can bet if the Feds wanted to track down payments and link them to your bank account (which identifies that deposit as a PayPal one) they would be able to do it.
It’s dangerous and irresponsible to insinuate or imply that PayPal is as anonymous as an offshore account. Clearly, it’s not.
AirBNB verifies your identity as does PayPal. AirBNB also reports your earnings to the Australian Tax Office.