Few Landlords Pay San Francisco Vacancy Tax

According to a San Francisco Chronicle article by Roland Li and Susie Neilson, a vacancy tax meant to encourage commercial landlords to rent out empty storefronts is yielding little revenue in its first year, with “only 2.6% of around 2,800 property parcels that were potentially subject to the tax … listed as vacant by tax filers for more than 182 days in the year.”

Amanda Fried, chief of policy and communications at the Office of the Treasure and Tax Collector, told the Chronicle, “This is not the audited information. This is not how many vacancies exist.”

The tax, passed in 2020 but put on pause until 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, “is $250 per foot of a property’s outdoor street frontage for the first year, rising to $500 per foot in the second year of vacancy and $1,000 per foot in the third year.”

Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who sponsored the measure, “previously said the goal of the tax was to change landlord behavior and make them more willing to rent out spaces, rather than raise money.”

More recently, the city also passed a vacancy tax on residential properties, which real estate groups have sued to block.