Airbnb withholds US income for Non-American Resident, I am Canadian, Properties are in Canada

[Nicole2084]

Hello Airbnb community. Starting August when I downloaded my transaction history, 5 of my listings showed Tax withholding for US income of 28%. I live in Canada, all of the properties are in Canada. I reached out to Airbnb immediately and was told this is not their level of expertise and someone from the tax department would get back to me. I got one phone call later that day and the case manager sounded concerned but said don't worry, if its Airbnb's fault we will refund that money. He said he would call me back and still hasn't 2 days later. The tax is still being deducted. I've called the call centre multiple times and have been told they will send my message along but zero communication from anyone that can fix this.

Has anyone else had the same problem? And or successfully got this money back and had your account control regained? I've read that its very difficult to get this money back and no one is stopping it. 

[Brian2036]

@Nicole2084 

It appears that many people are having the same problem.

It must be addressed immediately.

 You can contact your MP and ask for help.

 You can call the US IRS help line and ask for advice.

 You can file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

 You can pay an attorney to file a demand for reimbursement by Airbnb.

 You can complain to Airbnb customer service.

[Jessica-and-Sebastian0]

Same issue here, how did yours get solved?

[Michelle53]

@Nicole2084  You probably have to submit taxpayer information in order for it to stop. 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/510/taxes-and-payouts.

The only way to get the money back is to file for it as a credit for tax paid on your tax return - an accountant could help you figure out how to do that. 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/122/why-is-airbnb-requesting-my-taxpayer-information

[Magali308]

Same issue here. I have an business account and have listenings for German apartment owners and the apartments are in Germany. I just recently moved to the US and was handling the last bookings on the listings then out of the sudden airing started to withholding the money without giving me any notice and without requesting any information. all I found online is that they want you to fill out informations when they request you to do so until December 2021 and starting to withhold taxes when you fail to give information in January 2022. we have now October 2021 also I don't have any income from those apartment as they are provingly belong to third parties and also the income goes to Germany and is taxed there. I asked airbnb why and no one could give me an answer. I was promised to get an immediate reply but haven't heard anything. 

[Trevor10]

Sadly the only way I discovered to cease the deductions is to fill in a 8-ECI which is not entirely legit correct but nor is the deductions.