business

Airbnb raided by Japan fair trade watchdog, denies wrongdoing

20 Comments
By Lionel Bonaventure

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© 2017 AFP

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20 Comments
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With out a Japanese (investment) partner there there is no way ABB wil get a foot in the door. Much like most foreign companies operating in JP, with out a retern to JP cofferes no elbow room.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

How about raiding the hotel association for limiting the number of hotels in Tokyo?

11 ( +14 / -3 )

Uber and airbnb will have to fight legally with hotel and taxi mafia here. It wont be an easy battle.

14 ( +16 / -2 )

Nobody is forced to use Airbnb. This is simply harrassment.

10 ( +15 / -5 )

Why is everything expensive here?

Why ?

Well, Japan is full of restrictive practices that are forced onto the marketplace.

The end result is that the public pay higher prices and have less choice.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

It is the established hotel industry that should be raided by anti-monopoly officials.

Vested interests everywhere.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

I have a spare room and have advertised it via Airbnb. Through the whole user friendly application process of simple clicks and uploading photos of the place, no where does it ask whether I go through other means of advertising or not.

11 ( +11 / -0 )

Agree wi the above. AirBnB does not require exclusivity, nor does it even come up! Not even in the form of a voluntary questionnaire. The charges are nonsense and likely driven by the hotel industry.

7 ( +11 / -4 )

I'm all for monitoring of AirBnB and its hosts for things like tax avoidance, ignoring zoning, advertising unlicensed places in towns that have rejected minpaku, ignoring minpaku rules, etc.

I know licensed places on AirBnB that are also on Booking.com, so this exclusivity is news to me.

10 ( +10 / -0 )

I don’t think Airbnb is operating anticompetitively, however I do think better regulation is required for them to prevent nuisances to residents. We’ve already banned it in our apartment block due to terrible past ABB tenants and won’t even consider restarting it until ABB improves their tenant vetting system

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The raid is to get hold of the data which will be shared with tax revenue

5 ( +5 / -0 )

@kurisupisu

Yes, I agree with your assessment. Let us also not forget that all these hotels have a pyramid management structure. All these managers and executives have exorbitant and outrageous salaries we need to pay for as well bonuses too when we rent that hotel room. Oh yes and kickbacks from advertisement agencies. As the ole saying goes. To many chiefs and not enough Indians. Its not just the hotel industry either. Its is everywhere in Japan. Borderline corruption. Leave Airbnb alone. It is creative and useful. God forbid we get a little value for our hard earned yen. The hotel executives are just bent cause they are losing money to Airbnb. A very small percentage I would imagine. GREED!

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Looks like the AFP is still falling for 'sharing' nonsense. It's not sharing and it's often not the 'homeowners' actual home.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

In japan the hotel industry has been

Fleecing the public, you pay double

For a room with a double bed.

Ryokan is the worst at fleecing.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Japan Fair Trade Commission

Should be renamed to Japan Price Fixing Commission.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

There are two parties that benefit from this raid. The government who wants all of these renters to pay taxes on the profits being made is basically keeping tabs on the renters. In addition, the hotel industry wants to keep Airbnb from cutting into their profits especially before the 2020 Olympics arrive.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@Silvafan - I dunno. I report my income from AirBnB. Else, how can I write off expenses? Besides, it's probably not a good idea to try to hide income that shows up on your bank account book. If you ever get audited, that's going to be an easy find.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@Dan

I am not suggesting that people should hide taxable income, but I am suggesting that it is possible to do. The biggest motivator is the hotel industry trying to push AirBnB out of the market because many of the Japanese markets are based on cabals and monopolies.

By the way, the odds of the average person randomly being audited is low.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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