People booking vacation rentals in New York on sites like Airbnb Inc. could soon start paying sales taxes that home-sharing companies would collect under a proposal included in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s $193 billion budget.
Aides to the Democratic governor say the proposal could generate an additional $10 million for the state in the fiscal year that starts April 1, and $18 million in subsequent years. Roughly the same amount of money would also flow to local governments around the state, which also levy their own surcharges on top of the state’s 4% sales tax.
The proposal was embraced by the group representing the state’s county governments, but it could revive a broader debate about how home-sharing companies are regulated in the state, lawmakers said, which is fueled by different concerns in different parts of the state.
“I think it’s now opportune for us to have this larger conversation,” said state Sen. James Skoufis, a Democrat from Orange County, who favors changing state law to allow for short-term rentals in multifamily buildings.
Mr. Cuomo’s proposal doesn’t address registration or change the state’s multiple-dwelling law, which prevents someone from renting an apartment in a building with three or more units for fewer than 30 days unless the apartment’s tenant is also present.
