Airbnb taking local tax from guests

Airbnb taking local tax from guests

Airbnb have advised us that from July 2018 they will be collecting the local tax sejour from our guests.  We have not given them authorisation to do this.  Our commune sends us a bill in October (to be paid at end of October) for all tax sejour collected from our guests for July and August.  If we do not pay this bill we are threatened with court action.  Airbnb are not proposing to pay the tax until the beginning of the following year.  The problem is if I do not include the tax taken from Airbnb to our community then they will think I have paid a shortfall and threaten me with court action.  If I pay in full then Airbnb pay the community they will have received the same tax twice (meaning I am out of pocket).  Airbnb have taken this upon themselves to collect.  I have asked the name of the authority they will be paying the tax to (I need to ensure it is the same as the place I will be paying mine to).  They replied that they have no data on who to pay ....... mind blowing.  They will not even reply to my messages now and will not even reply as to how much they will be taking from the guests.  I need to know it is the correct amount.  All this is toally unnecessary and it is my business I am running so it is me that should be collecting the tax and passing it on to the appropriate authorities.  Perhaps they will have the decency to reply an sort this out.  There is too much of these OTA's taking over our business rather than being a platform for us to advertise with. 

11 Replies 11

Airbnb does not tend to collect these taxes for the fun of it, and they dont do it free of charge.

 

A such I would guess that the agreement to do so has surely come from discussions from the authorities, who must surely believe it is in their interests and easier for them to implement that what you describe is the current procedure.....I am only guessing..you know more about your area than I do.

 

Maybe you should see if there is a local Airbnb host group that you could join and collectively ask for clarification as to how this new system will work. 

 

Maybe also contact your current authority that you pay to....and ask if they have joined this new system of payment collection.

 

Airbnb has your property address and as such zip/post code so it may well be automated to send the authority the owener/property address and tax collection.

 

Of course it would help if you were informed if that is the case  

 

 

If that is the case then Airbnb should have all the details on hand as to who they will be paying in my commune and be able to confirm they will be taking the correct amount of tax from the guests.  They have been unable or unwilling to answer either of these questions which gives me a lot of faith that the money will be paid correctly and I will not be hounded for tax I may have already paid to our commune.  

"If that is the case then Airbnb should have all the details on hand as to who they will be paying in my commune and be able to confirm they will be taking the correct amount of tax from the guests."

 

John,

They may well do...but that information is confidential and may not be accessible to the Support agent who you happen to talk to over the phone/message. 

 

However, I agree with you that their message to you is somewhat vague in detail...something I am afraid Airbnb are experts at.

 

Good luck anyway with it all

 

 

 

Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

Hello @John1387 ,

I don't see any tax charged on guests when simulating a booking on your listing after 1 juli. Maybe you misunderstood the message. But if it was, it will be  charged due to an agreement between local authorities and Airbnb, so your permission is not involved.

Read more:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/654/what-is-occupancy-tax--do-i-need-to-collect-or-pay-it

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1036/how-does-occupancy-tax-collection-and-remittance-by-airbnb-...

Hope this helps,

Emiel

A bit difficult to misunderstand this message received from Airbnb:

 

From 1 July 2018, Airbnb will start collecting and remitting the tourist tax on your behalf for all bookings made from that date in your city.

 

My whole point is that our local authority send us a bill in October.  They charge us on the basis that we will have been full for the whole of July & Aug (60 days) they are not interested in any tax you have taken off the guests outside of these months.  When they send us their bill in October they will have no way of knowing if we have had any bookings from Airbnb because Airbnb will not be paying them any taxes taken until the following year.  If I pay the authority the total sum requested and then Airbnb pay them the following year they will be getting the tax twice.  If I deduct in October any taxes I know Airbnb have taken I will have to send proof of this otherwise they will accuse me of paying a shortfall.  Also, when I asked Airbnb the name and address of who they will be paying they replied "they have no date on this" and told me to phone the authority.  NO IT IS THEM THAT NEED TO SORT THIS OUT NOT ME.  JUST TRYING TO RUN MY OWN BUSINESS.  I have also asked Airbnb to confirm how much tax they will be taking from the guest (just to ensure they know the rate for our commune) but again no reply.  Are they out of their depth taking this on!!!

Kenneth12
Level 10
Chicago, IL

Every consider telling your local counsel to go pound sand and stop harassing you?  Seriously.

We wrote to them and they have not even bothered to reply.  May well consider giving up on the tourist industry the way it is all going. 

Still no reply from Airbnb as to exactly who they will be paying the tax sejour to in our area, or confirmation of how much per person they will be taking (need to know they have the correct figure).  Surprise, surprise .... they obviously do not know the answers so ignoring me they think I will go away.

 

 

..... and still no reply!!!

 

 

Airbnb have just taken tax from a guest (2 people) for a booking in July as per their new rules.  They have taken insufficient amount meaning that the tax that will be paid to our local Authority is incorrect.  Airbnb have no idea what they are doing taking this on and WILL NOT REPLY TO ME.    REALLY GETTING ANGRY NOW!!!

Just in case anyone from Airbnb actually reads our comments - we are now nearing the end of August and Airbnb have taken the incorrect tax on every guest.  Our commune in France has been trying to contact them because we are on a "forfait" system for paying the tourist tax and Airbnb should not be taking it.  In Jan 2019 it gets more complicated when we have to charge 3% of our nightly individual room rate.  Airbnb are not supposed to be taking this tax so if they do not resolve this issue (or even bother to reply to me or our commune) I will have no choice but to come off this site.  They have taken on something they do not understand.   The unwillingness to respond and correct this nightmare is beyond belief and has caused me a lot of stress this Summer - especially when our commune will be looking for payment in October and Airbnb have taken a shortfall!!!!!!  Help and Support is totally non-existent Airbnb.  You need to start treating people with respect they deserve.