Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett is reiterating that there is no discussion about taxing local Air BNB providers.

Air BNB is an online marketplace which lets people rent out their properties, or spare rooms, to guests.

This follows recent reports that the government is gearing up to tax this group of small scale Jamaican property owners and / or operators.

Bartlett has however indicated that there have been discussions about an ‘administrative charge’ applied to Air BNB which they will pay over to the government.

This he says will have no impact on the bottom line of local operators.

Additionally, this charge will go towards helping these small players by effectively marketing their properties and enhance destination assurance across the board.

In December 2016, a memorandum of understanding was signed by the Jamaica Tourist Board and Air BNB to establish a framework for cooperation to further boost and diversify Jamaica’s tourism product.