[mattbee]

Airbnb already charge VAT (in the UK at least) on the host service fees, i.e. the 15% of the transaction they keep for themselves.

So Airbnb already charge for their service, and they're taxed on it.

What's new is taking GST (or VAT) on the accommodation too, which is normally paid over to hosts direct, and who have to remit VAT only if they were over the "small trader" threshold (in the UK that is not many).