After a lengthy holdout, Airbnb announced on Wednesday that it had paid hotel taxes and penalties to the City of San Francisco "in full."
The short-term rental service owed the city up to $25 million in back taxes and penalties for failing to collect hotel taxes, spanning back several years, according to officials, per SFGate. The San Francisco-born company reportedly paid "tens of millions of dollars" to the city.
It's never technically been legal to rent out homes for fewer than 30 days in San Francisco, even before the "Airbnb law" went into effect on Feb. 1. Critics argued that it also ultimately hurt cities, undermining the city's rent control laws and turning neighborhoods into hotel rows-without actual hotels, which help bring money into the city for affordable housing and public services.
However, even many supporters of Airbnb agree that it's safer to pay the taxes and be done with it-at least in San Francisco-instead of waiting until election season in November and risk it becoming a central issue up for debate. Not only had Airbnb been receiving pressure to pay the taxes and penalties, but San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee also would have also been under pressure come election time to take a stance on Airbnb. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, resident and former mayor of San Francisco, has been publicly against accommodation renters like Airbnb. So has Supervisor David Campos.
Airbnb said in a statement, per Business Insider:
"We have been engaged in a formal process with the Treasurer's Office regarding back taxes and have been eager to reach a resolution. Two weeks ago, the Treasurer's Office told us what they thought was owed in back taxes. Though we have concerns about this assessment - the tax rules in San Francisco are unique and the subject of ongoing litigation brought by other companies that we are closely monitoring - we have paid it in full.
'We remain focused on working with everyone to make sure the new law governing home sharing that took effect in February has a chance to work. Airbnb already collects and remits occupancy taxes in San Francisco, and our community contributes millions more in economic benefits throughout this great city and will continue to do so."
Of course, there are other cities beyond San Francisco seeking money from Airbnb. Some estimates have Airbnb owing roughly $200 million nationwide. This isn't over for the company.
But the "Airbnb law" that took effect on Feb. 1 did allow owners to legally rent out their homes in San Francisco, as long as they were residents of San Francisco and lived in their units for at least nine months per year. That eases the problem for Airbnb.
There's also the matter of Expedia's case against San Francisco. Expedia has won lower-court rulings in a lawsuit to reclaim $90 million in hotel taxes and penalties it has paid the city, and that case now stands before the Supreme Court. If Expedia wins there, it's possible that Airbnb tries to do the same thing.
But, at least for now, the mess in San Francisco is cleaned up before election season.
In the words of supervisor Julie Christensen, per SFGate, "Hallelujah-let's move on.''
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