Taxpayer info change and how it is reflected on the annual report under DAC7 in EU

[Kumsal1]

Hello,

I am looking for information on how any changes to 'Taxpayer Information' or 'Property Registration Number' will come into effect, but I have not been able to find any public resources on this.

Currently, I have all the info on my account that are valid for my 2024 bookings, however due to some changes in legal status, I need to change the information for any reservations to take place in 2025. This Airbnb article (https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/3268) states that the data is shared with the authorities each January for the previous year, but it doesn't mention which data is being reported; updated data at the time of reporting or data at the time of the stay or when the reservation has been confirmed.

I have already contacted Airbnb Support regarding this question, but they were also unable to provide any source containing this information.

Any input in finding the answer to this question or any help to reach someone who might have the answer is much appreciated.

Wish everyone a Happy New Year!

[Kumsal1]

@Emilie @Quincy @Umberto @Bhumika @Alex @Rebecca

Perhaps you would be able to reach out to the relevant Airbnb team, who could provide more insights on how the tax data being shared with the authorities, because the answer to my question neither available at online resources nor Airbnb Support was able to provide such a resource.

[Rebecca]

Hello @Kumsal1 👋

I'm really sorry to read your frustrations and that it still hasn't been resolved. I have popped you a direct message with some more information. 

Speak to you soon, 
Rebecca 

[Kumsal1]

@Emilie @Quincy @Umberto @Bhumika @Alex @Rebecca

I have been really frustrated trying to get any response from Airbnb for over a month now and still haven’t gotten a proper response.

I can’t even count how many support ambassadors and specialized team members I have spoken to as the issue has been escalated and reopened multiple times, but while I am still looking for a response from Airbnb, I have come to two conclusions from all this correspondence.

1. No one working at Airbnb actually knows what they are doing. There have been times when I have spoken to a specialized team member and they had no idea what I was talking about or what Airbnb’s legal obligations were to the authorities.

1. Airbnb is not fulfilling its legal obligations to report certain information to the authorities, at least under the DAC7 Regulation in the EU.

I will try to explain why I have come to these conclusions.

Since I spoke to multiple agents, their answers were also varied. The first agent said the changes would go into effect immediately for all future bookings, so I can go ahead and update the information.

However, the second response I received from the "specialized team member" was that the report reflected all the information in the account as of December 31st. She was the most helpful of all the people I spoke to, yet she gave me two conflicting pieces of information. Although she initially said that the Property Registration Numbers were not showing on the report, in her last message she said that she had received confirmation from the relevant team that the registration number would still be showing as of December 31st too. Despite responding to the previous conversation, I was unable to get back to her. I was directed to another support representative and started all over again.

It got worse after that, I was told multiple times that the case would be forwarded to a specialized team and when I thought I was speaking to some of that team I got the same message again. I had to explain to Airbnb ambassadors what Airbnb’s legal obligations were and send them the link from their website so they could understand. The last person I spoke to yesterday was not even aware that Airbnb had to report the information to the authorities, he said I could download the CVS report from the Earnings page for my reporting duties. I sent him the link and emphasised their obligation to report to the authorities within January. He said he didn’t understand why Airbnb didn’t send the report to me and not the authorities.

It's been a month since I first contacted Airbnb, I had blocked my calendar this whole time just to be safe, so I abandoned any intention of getting an answer to my initial question.

I am just trying to find out if the Property Registration Number is included in the report and if so, what number is used in the report, as I temporarily updated to the new license numbers before December 31st, trusting the first ambassador I spoke to.

Airbnb should have sent the report to the authorities in January in accordance with the relevant law, so the report should be available somewhere for them to answer this question. I have asked support ambassadors several times, and they have only given a vague answer or closed the case.

I also went to my Account > Taxes page and there under the Tax Documents tab I can find the 2023 report, but for 2024 it states "No tax documents issued."

Finally yesterday I received a message from the support ambassador that they will try to get in touch with the specialized team to see if they will be able to provide the details I am asking for and that I should expect an email as soon as possible. Then this morning I woke up to find the case had been closed again without any response.

Although the deadline for Airbnb to notify authorities has passed, I cannot find the report in my account, nor any support representative or specialized team member can answer my simple question: Does the report include the property registration number, and if so, what is it?

This brings me to the conclusion I mentioned above.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading my lengthy post.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Kumsal1 why are you so hung up about this? The requirement to supply data to the authorities is all about tax evasion. As long as your tax returns are correctly filed (and you shouldn't need this info to do that) then you have nothing to worry about.

[Kumsal1]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

If you read my first post about the issue, there has been some changes of the property license number and tax payer information. Since Airbnb article about the regulation only states that the data is shared with the authorities each January and doesn't specify what happens in case of such a change, I was trying to get a clarification about it.

Not to face any problems afterwards, I had blocked my calendars until I get a clear response, and my first though was that I would be able to open up my calendars again latest beginning of February, as Airbnb was supposed to share the data within January.

After all this communication for more than a month and not receiving any clear answer however, I have come to seriously doubt that Airbnb is even fulfilling its legal obligations to report the necessary information to the authorities. Don't you find it strange too that nobody is able to find or access such a file and I am also not able to find it under my account, while the report for 2023 is there?

Coming to your question why am I so "hung up about this", I am reporting my income as I am supposed to do, but it has to match the information that Airbnb share with the authorities. As there has been a change of information, it is possible that Airbnb reports the income with wrong Property Registration Number, and that would cause the authorities to see it as a tax evasion attempt, while in fact I would be reporting the income with the correct number.

Do you think Airbnb would step in and take responsibility for wrongdoing in such a case, or would they leave me alone to deal with the authorities and let me face heavy fines? If something like this happened to your listings in your country and your reports did not match Airbnb's reports, who would be held responsible for the problem? 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Kumsal1 No Airbnb will not step in as taxes are entirely your responsibility. The data Airbnb sent to HMRC when we were hosting never matched the data I supplied and it never caused any issues whatsoever. I would leave the authorities to worry if Airbnb is reporting correctly and just ignore any data they send when you report. That way as long as you report your income correctly you can never be fined.