Help required on unfair US taxes on Non-US Citizen/Resident on Non-US based listing/properties

Imran7
Level 2
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Help required on unfair US taxes on Non-US Citizen/Resident on Non-US based listing/properties

Hi everyone!

I have been unfairly charged US tax by Airbnb despite the fact that:

- I am NOT a US citizen nor resident

- None of my properties are based in US;

All my listings/properties are in Dubai, UAE. My bank account is in UAE where all Airbnb funds are transferred. I have an Asian passport and resident of UAE. No tax impact at all, not even remotely!

 

I was browsing my payouts and noticed 30% of my revenue being withheld with below message:

4Jan22 - Tax Withholding for US Income
5Jan22 - Tax Withholding for US Income 
 
I contacted Airbnb support on 3rd Jan 2022 and they took whole 2 days to respond. Within these 2 days, 2 payments were withheld. Now the Airbnb support is sending confusing answers & basically refusing to refund these amounts. 
 
Its a serious issue about principles and fairness. First of all, Airbnb internal system flagged a wrong account which has nothing to do with US taxes. They never send any message about any tax obligation. Infact I proactively complained to them before the actual date. They took their time and now refusing to accept this internal error & issue a refund. This is really unacceptable. What kind of internal escalations (email/contact) or legal options do I have in your opinion? I am hoping any logical and fair person from Airbnb should be able to make the right decision. 
 
Would highly appreciate your kind support and suggestions. Thank you so much!
2 Replies 2
Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Imran7 try contacting them by Twitter - Airbnb do not like bad publicity

M199
Level 10
South Bruce Peninsula, Canada

@Imran7 

 

That's bizarre, but typical of Airbnb.

 

Keep fighting them.