Airbnb is working with governments across Europe to help make host income tax simple and today signed a new agreement to support hosts in Estonia.
The collaboration allows hosts to automatically report their earnings on a voluntary basis to tax authorities at the click of a button. Earnings are then added to digital tax returns that calculate for hosts how much tax they owe, sparing them from complex tax calculations.
Hosts keep up to 97 cents of every euro they charge to rent their space on Airbnb.
Hosts want to pay their fair share of tax and we want to help. We want to work with governments to help make income tax simple for everyone.
Patrick Robinson, Director of Public Policy at Airbnb
Rivo Reitmann from the Estonian tax authority said: “Thanks to this new tool and the collaboration with Airbnb we will make the lives of home sharers in Estonia easier.”
The announcement comes after Airbnb backed proposals in Denmark last month for new rules to combine clear home sharing rules and innovative income tax measures.
Under the new rules, which are currently being discussed in the Danish Parliament, families can share their homes and enjoy new benefits – including increased hosting limits and tax-free earnings – if they use platforms that collaborate with the government and share basic host details for tax purposes.
“We now want to work with governments to help make tax simple for everyone,” said Patrick Robinson. “We are already engaged in talks across Europe and hope to build on our collaboration with governments to date.”
Airbnb has always reminded hosts to check and follow local tax rules through regular email reminders and on responsible hosting pages. Transaction histories can also be easily downloaded for tax purposes. Airbnb has also starting work with independent organizations that can support hosts and help them understand their tax obligations.
Airbnb has already worked with more than 500 governments around the world to help hosts share their homes, follow the rules and pay their fair share of tax, and automated the collection of tourist taxes in 23,000 cities in France earlier this year.
