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An update on withholding Host income taxes in Italy

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Airbnb Ireland has finalized a settlement with the Italian Revenue Agency on the matter of withholding Host income taxes. The settlement agreement covers Host withholdings during the 2017 – 2021 period, for an aggregate payment of €576 million euros. We are not seeking to recover any of this sum from our Hosts. We are continuing our constructive engagement with the Italian authorities for 2022 and 2023.

Italy is an important market for Airbnb. This mutual agreement means we can focus on continuing our collaboration with Italian authorities on taxes, short-term rental rules and sustainable tourism for the benefit of our community.

Italy is home to thousands of Hosts on Airbnb. More than three-quarters share just one listing and the typical Host earned just over €3,500 last year.1 Nearly two-thirds (59%) say the income from hosting helps them to make ends meet, and 15% of Hosts say they work in either healthcare, education or public administration roles.2   

The vast majority of Hosts on Airbnb in Italy are ordinary families that are using the platform for supplemental income. We hope the agreement with the Italian Revenue Agency and recent legislative changes in Italy will provide these families with certainty about the rules around hosting for years to come. 

Looking ahead

In October 2023, the Italian Government shared the 2024 Budget Law, which, in its current form, clarifies how platforms such as Airbnb should withhold income taxes for non-professional Hosts in Italy moving forward. We welcome the clarity offered by this planned update to Italian law and are preparing to comply by introducing new tools for applicable Hosts to have their taxes withheld automatically by Airbnb, and paid to the Italian Revenue Agency on their behalf directly.

Airbnb is also preparing to comply with DAC 7, an EU-wide tax reporting framework for digital platforms. These rules are designed to ensure that governments receive the taxes they are due, while supporting a more consistent, standardized and international approach to information sharing. We have already been notifying Italian Hosts about how the changes may impact their activity on Airbnb and will continue to request DAC 7 information from them before the data is shared with Irish Revenue in January 2024 (due to where Airbnb Ireland is based), and subsequently on to the Italian Revenue Agency. 

Finally, Airbnb welcomes the progress of national short-term rental rules in Italy, including the Italian national registration system and EU wide data sharing framework. These improvements will make it easier for historic centers such as Venice and Florence to see who is hosting and how often, and to develop proportionate policy solutions in response. Airbnb is committed to working with Italian authorities to make the rules a success.
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1. Internal Airbnb data. The typical Host earnings amount represents the median amount of earnings for Italian Hosts as of 1st January 2023. Host earnings figure based on $3,800.
2. Based on feedback from around 3,500 Airbnb Hosts in Italy surveyed between January 4th 2023 and December 6th 2023.

Forward Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact could be deemed forward-looking, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the expected resolution of the disputes and related matters described herein. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as “may,” “will,” “appears,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “outlook,” “intends,” “target,” “projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” or “continue,” or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations, strategy, plans, or intentions. Such statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from results expressed or implied in this release. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. Future results may also be subject to other risks listed or described from time to time in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2023, June 30, 2023 and September 30, 2023 and any subsequent filings, which are or will be on file with the SEC and available on the investor relations page of the Company’s website. All forward looking statements are based on information and estimates available to the Company at the time of this release. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update any of the statements in this release.

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