Airbnb: 148 million euros in tourist tax donated to French municipalities in 2022

Europe 1 with AFP 3:58 p.m., January 13, 2023

The Airbnb tourist rental platform will have paid 148 million euros in tourist tax to French municipalities in 2022, an amount up 60% compared to the previous year, thanks to the recovery in tourism, she announced on Friday. .

From November 2021 to October 2022, the largest amounts of tourist tax were collected in Paris (24.3 million euros against 9.4 million in 2021), Marseille (2.8 million euros against 1.9 million), Nice (2.4 million euros against 1.2 million), said a press release.

Return of international travelers

“These major cities thus benefit from the return of international travelers and major events, which again attract travelers to their territory”, underlines the platform which achieves in France its largest turnover in the world after the United States.

Nearly 30% of the tourist tax collected in France in 2022 was collected in rural municipalities with fewer than 3,500 inhabitants, i.e. a stable proportion - it was 29% in 2021. Airbnb indicates that it works "with Member States of the European Union and their tax authorities in order to automate the collection and payment of the tourist tax".

The platform also adds to communicate "the income of guests to the tax administration once a year since 2020" and provide municipalities, in accordance with the regulations in force, "detailed data on the stays made" via its site, since November 2021. In France, the tourist tax is paid by the holidaymaker in addition to the price of accommodation to the landlord, hotelier or owner who then pays it to the municipality.

Its level, set by the local authorities, ranges from 1% to 5% of the price excluding tax of the overnight stay per person.

Its revenues allow local authorities to have additional resources to develop the tourist offer in their territories.

In addition, the corporate tax paid by Airbnb France for the year 2021 is 366,451 euros, compared to 204,662 euros for 2020, the company told AFP, an "amount linked to the income of the French office" of company, in particular from "promotion and marketing services", i.e. a very marginal fraction of its activity.

Many cities accuse the platform of creating housing shortages

Because the income from its main activity, the rental of tourist accommodation - the 3% commission paid by the rental company, and that of 14% paid by the traveler - are collected in full by Airbnb Ireland and subject to Irish taxation, more favorable than that practiced in France.

The platform also pays "VAT and tax on digital services" in France, she said.

Many cities complain about the development of tourist accommodation via platforms such as Airbnb or Abritel, which they accuse of being the cause of a housing shortage for the population who live in these municipalities year-round, or of the 'accentuate.

Paris, for example, has been scrapping for a long time against furnished tourist accommodation.

After the big cities, more and more small or medium-sized towns in France have adopted rules to limit their expansion.

In April 2022, European justice validated the obligation for tourist accommodation rental platforms to communicate information on transactions carried out to national tax authorities.

The Court of Justice of the European Union based in Luxembourg had been seized of a dispute between the company Airbnb Ireland and Belgium.