Withholding Tax for non USA Residents

[Nerida7]

How do you get tax that has been withheld released? I am not a US citizen and do not have property in the USA therefore I should not have tax withheld.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Nerida7 there are a couple of threads talking about this. It seems that you need to fill in a particular form to prove to Airbnb (and hence the US government) that you are not liable for tax. Have you perhaps ignored such a request assuming it didn't apply to you?

[Bianca477]

Hi Nerida,

This has just happened to me also, but I can't find any communication from Airbnb advising that this change was coming.  Apparently it commenced on 1 Jan 2022.  I have filled out the necessary form and am awaiting a response from them as to whether they will refund the withholding amount, as it is quite substantial. 

[Nerida7]

Hi Banca 

I do not recall any notification from AirBnB re this change and like you we have a substantial amount of money withheld. I have contacted AirBnB and have had 2 different responses. One says the money will be released now that I have filled out the form and the  other says at the end of the year this amount will appear in my  Inland Revenue tax statement. This presumably means lodging some sort of tax return in the USA through no doubt a convoluted process. As we are not US citizens we do not have anything to do with the US Tax system. This is unacceptable and I will continue to pursue this as I hope others will.

[Bianca477]

I am extremely disappointed and frustrated by the fact that this information was not communicated to us, OUR money has just been withheld, and potentially forwarded to the IRS.  I don't think it is acceptable that we should have to wait at least 6 months before we can lodge our Australian tax returns to be able to claim it back.  Its should be in our accounts now.  From a brief bit of reading today there are quite a number of people to whom this has happened in the last couple of weeks.  We absolutely need to stand up and have this error rectified in our favour.  

I will keep you informed if I can get any answers.  Airbnb are extremely slow in responding unfortunately, as I'm sure you are experiencing too.

[Nicolas-and-Maria0]

Hello Bianca,

Something very similar is happening to us here in Lisbon, Portugal where we live and declare taxes and have 2 listings. "Out of the blue" we pay now taxes in the US: we have apparently already paid several hundred € to the US tax authorities and will pay taxes here in Portugal too (since it's here we declare and pay taxes).

The fact that we submit airbnb every year a withholding tax form (RFI-21) doesn't make a difference since we are now double tax payers and pay around 53% in taxes  (US and Portugal combined).

We really don't know what to do. We can fill in that form (W8BEN) airbnb wants us to submit without knowing why and on what grounds and without any rational explanation from airbnb.

Could you give us some input? Many thanks!

Nicolas & Maria Carlos

[Nerida7]

I am aware of the tax form and have now completed it however I do not recall any notification from AirBnB on this matter. I will continue to pursue the release of the tax withheld.

[Nerida7]

Hello fellow hosts. Amazingly AirBnB have released the tax they had withheld from my payout today. It is worth chasing if you haven't received your withheld tax.

Regards Nerida

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Nerida7 Good to hear and thank you for letting us know the outcome of your problem.