IVA / VAT tax in Mexico

[Janning0]

As of July 28, 2021, Airbnb started returning the IVA (VAT tax in Mexico) it collected from guests to me, and depositing it as part of my income, in my bank account. I have selected the 'Default' option for taxes which is that the taxes collected from guests are paid to the government by Airbnb on my behalf. Up until July 28, that is what happened, but it changed, though I still have the Default option selected. (Default: "With this option we collect and remit a set of taxes on your behalf." Further information on that page indicates that includes 1) Tourism Tax for the state (an occupancy or hotel tax) and 2) VAT on accommodations.)

I only realized what they were doing in early October, and initiated a request for help. The first person tried, but this is a technical issue, so she supposedly turned me over to another person and closed the thread. The second person reached out to me on a new thread but it was closed almost immediately, before I could respond. I have initiated several other threads, but no response. I called the Mexico help line yesterday, and the person I talked to sympathized and said he was marking it as an 'emergency' since my complaint/problem has been unresolved for now over 3 weeks.  Still nothing.

Has anyone else had Airbnb change method of paying taxes from the Default selection to paying the host directly for no discernible reason? 

I do not understand why they suddenly switched from paying taxes on my behalf to remitting the tax they collected to my payout.

Is there any way to get through to someone with authority at Airbnb Support?

[Rob66]

I'm not sure if you had this resolved or not, but I am having the opposite problem.
My listings are under a Mexican corporation. Because the business of the corporation is Vacation Rentals, the Mexican government taxes all funds deposited to my Mexican bank account 20%: 16% IVA and 4% for the state and local hospitality taxes. But Airbnb doesn't give me the option to collect the taxes on my listing. They say I need to disclose the taxes in my notes and charge them to the guest through the resolution center. Is that even legal? 
For the last 10 months I have increased my rental rates by 20% to cover the taxes. However, that makes my listings less competitive. 

If anyone knows a way around this, please let me know....

[Adriana1283]

I have the opposite situation. They are collecting and supposedly submitting taxes on my behalf but they don't have my tax payer ID (RFC). Since they're taking more than 20% off my income,  I wonder where all that money is going to. Honestly I'm just leaving the platform next month after being a host for 6 years.

[Mike2498]

Am in a similar situation, they aren’t taking IVA even though I submitted the RFC in June 2020.  They are now telling me I need to use a Mexican address for my account and will need to shut down accepting reservation then 90 days past my last checkout then I can change my ID, reopen for reservations and start my business again.  At this point I am going to collect IVA as a management tax I guess and pay an accountant to deal with it.

[Jeffery5]

As of Feb they have made changes again.  Even those of us who have and have entered our Mexico Tax number in the system are having taxes withheld.  I have now called 6 times to get it stopped or at least get clarification and there are no answers.  No one knows how it works or why it's not working correctly. So at this point they are just withholding random taxes and can't explain why.  My Mexico accountant doesn't even know what to do as we have to do monthly accounting.  The latest advice was for me to contact a tax advisor.  I guess they are telling me to contact a tax advisor to explain to me why they are doing what they should not be doing.  That really doesn't solve the problem.   They apparently have no person in charge who can actually solve this problem

[Adriana1283]

Airbnb has been collecting and supposedly submitting taxes on my behalf but they don't have my tax payer ID (RFC). Since they're taking more than 20% off my income,  I wonder where all that money is going to. 

BTW, for those of you who don't know, in Mexico you have to set up your RFC obligations in a certain way to be able to receive income from rentals. That means you have to pay an accountant to file your taxes monthly and annually. Theoretically you could do it yourself, but the Hacienda system is very confusing and changes too often. 

Honestly I'm just leaving the platform next month after being a host for 6 years. Airbnb taxation rules make no sense and they don't care explaining them clearly.