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Not completely. Most were dormant advertisements. There is not a big tourist tax here; the biggest tax evasions for private people is probably on their income

by toshk 5y ago

Not completely. Most were dormant advertisements. There is not a big tourist tax here; the biggest tax evasions for private people is probably on their income tax level, but that's not solved by this. The direct issue it addresses is the take over of many tourists of certain neighborhoods meant for living. The favorite hobby of habitants of Amsterdam is complaining about tourists. The fight against Airbnb is a symbolic fight for the left winged parties in the city. Airbnb stands for big bad capitalistic wolf that makes the city unlivable for the normal people. The issue this bigger fight addresses is that Amsterdam is slowly becoming unaffordable for normal people and especially families. Tourist rentals are partly to blame, but there are many more causes (low interest rate, rich parents, students, limited space and more) So there are a bunch of restrictive legislations trying to deal with this, this is just one of them. Another one for instance is that since last year it's required to have a permit if you want to live in a house with more then 2 adults. Already for years it was required to register every night you rented out your appartment. Airbnb however refused to open the books so there was no way to check it for the city. Probably this way Amsterdam can check every registered appartment that's publically listed without the help of Airbnb.

mrep 5y ago
> There is not a big tourist tax here Seriously? Numbers I just googled show like 10-20 million tourists vs a metro population of 2.5 million and you guys have some of the highest taxes in the world? Why are you taxing yourself so much when you can tax the tourists because it is pretty much the opposite in most tourist places in the US?
- TomSwirly 5y ago
  > you guys have some of the highest taxes in the world? I moved to Amsterdam from NYC, and honestly the taxes are about the same, with NY city and state taxes taken into account.
  - mrep 5y ago
    Heavily depends on where you are on the income curve. Also, I think a more apt comparison would be a more touristy place like florida which has no income tax and relies more on tourism taxes. As an example, a person making $100,000 would pay $22,754 in florida whereas someone in the netherlands making €86,176 would pay €32,989 in income taxes. Then you also need to factor in the 21% vat vs 6% sales tax. Also gas is $3.179 a gallon vs €7.158 a gallon. That's a pretty big tax difference!
ralfn 5y ago
>The fight against Airbnb is a symbolic fight for the left winged parties in the city. That is just bullshit. The people complaining about their AirBnB neighbours are mostly in Zuid. Definitely in not Social housing. Please don't start projecting left/right schoolyard tribe politics in an international context. You embarrass our country. Usage of the phrase "left" and "right" is already dumb when Americans do it. But at least with their first past the pole democracy it is somewhat fitting. We have many political parties that differ in more than one dimension. From immigration to taxation to gay rights. Just go back to Dumpert already.
- mercy_dude 5y ago
  I agree using right vs left is dumb on occasions but OP has a point. Liberals (at least in US/Canada) used to be the one who would care about working middle class and their living conditions. In US and Canada all major North American cities(almost all of which I had left leaning politicians) the prices have exploded. You hear for example Canadian prime minister making it election pledge to make housing affordable, when under the same leadership housing prices have gone up 100% over 5yrs in many areas. So there is one of two things happening here - left is now out of touch with what’s really happening with middle class in North America who can’t afford a house without parents help and thus many choose not to start family etc or they cater to house owning rich upper middle class who have increasingly become their base.
  - ricardobeat 5y ago
    It’s quite hard to follow your line of reasoning here. Unless you can explain how “leftist” policies have led to housing inflation, the fact prices have gone up doesn’t seem to contradict your PM pledging to reduce them.
    - _v7gu 5y ago
      Expansive immigration+highly regulated housing. Car-dependent city building which forces people who can't afford cars to live in the city. Small apartments and multi-home houses being regulated out of existence which push immigrants into windowless basements.

by toshk 5y ago

mrep 5y ago

> There is not a big tourist tax here Seriously? Numbers I just googled show like 10-20 million tourists vs a metro population of 2.5 million and you guys have some of the highest taxes in the world? Why are you taxing yourself so much when you can tax the tourists because it is pretty much the opposite in most tourist places in the US?

TomSwirly 5y ago
> you guys have some of the highest taxes in the world? I moved to Amsterdam from NYC, and honestly the taxes are about the same, with NY city and state taxes taken into account.
- mrep 5y ago
  Heavily depends on where you are on the income curve. Also, I think a more apt comparison would be a more touristy place like florida which has no income tax and relies more on tourism taxes. As an example, a person making $100,000 would pay $22,754 in florida whereas someone in the netherlands making €86,176 would pay €32,989 in income taxes. Then you also need to factor in the 21% vat vs 6% sales tax. Also gas is $3.179 a gallon vs €7.158 a gallon. That's a pretty big tax difference!

ralfn 5y ago

>The fight against Airbnb is a symbolic fight for the left winged parties in the city. That is just bullshit. The people complaining about their AirBnB neighbours are mostly in Zuid. Definitely in not Social housing. Please don't start projecting left/right schoolyard tribe politics in an international context. You embarrass our country. Usage of the phrase "left" and "right" is already dumb when Americans do it. But at least with their first past the pole democracy it is somewhat fitting. We have many political parties that differ in more than one dimension. From immigration to taxation to gay rights. Just go back to Dumpert already.

mercy_dude 5y ago
I agree using right vs left is dumb on occasions but OP has a point. Liberals (at least in US/Canada) used to be the one who would care about working middle class and their living conditions. In US and Canada all major North American cities(almost all of which I had left leaning politicians) the prices have exploded. You hear for example Canadian prime minister making it election pledge to make housing affordable, when under the same leadership housing prices have gone up 100% over 5yrs in many areas. So there is one of two things happening here - left is now out of touch with what’s really happening with middle class in North America who can’t afford a house without parents help and thus many choose not to start family etc or they cater to house owning rich upper middle class who have increasingly become their base.
- ricardobeat 5y ago
  It’s quite hard to follow your line of reasoning here. Unless you can explain how “leftist” policies have led to housing inflation, the fact prices have gone up doesn’t seem to contradict your PM pledging to reduce them.
  - _v7gu 5y ago
    Expansive immigration+highly regulated housing. Car-dependent city building which forces people who can't afford cars to live in the city. Small apartments and multi-home houses being regulated out of existence which push immigrants into windowless basements.