San Francisco - Form 571-L (The crazy business inventory form)

Regulations/Tax Issues
1

As SF hosts know, there is a pretty sickening new regulation that is requiring hosts to list out quite literally everything they own on some kind of “inventory” list. The city claims this is a standard thing for businesses but it’s pretty obviously just a way to make life more difficult for hosts and to shake us down a bit.

I have not gotten this thing yet. Has anyone gotten this and actually filled it out?

2

Hi Choco,

As I used to work in finance, I’ve filled out this form numerous times for businesses. You only need to list items that you are deducting as business expenses.

3

That seems like way too much trouble. The last thing I need is to manage a “business”. I don’t care about deductions or anything like that. Can I get away with just ignoring this if I don’t care about deductions?

4

Hi Choco,

The form isn’t very difficult once you’ve filled it out the first time. The only items you list individually are furnishings and equipment which you are depreciating. The first time it’s a pain, but after that you just list what you bought since the last time you filled it out. For the smaller supplies (paper towels, cleaning supplies, etc.) you estimate the value of what you have on hand. I used to always use $100.00. If you truly don’t want to deduct your expenses, I assume that you could fill it out with all zeros. Also, you can ask your CPA to do it for you. I don’t think they’d charge much. In Los Angeles, if you don’t fill out the form they can come to your business and decide for themselves the value of your business equipment. In Los Angeles it can be filled out online which is much easier than filling out the paper form.

5

You don’t want to manage a business? :confused: In the vast majority of jurisdictions, this is what you are doing if you host. If you don’t want to manage a business, it may be better to switch to renting to a long-term tenant.