Why the Council of State disappoints Airbnb
The Council of State rejected Airbnb 's appeal on the withholding tax. For Federalberghi "failure to pay taxes is just one of the many problems generated by the Wild West of short-term rentals". Airbnb: “We are analyzing the ruling and evaluating the most appropriate initiatives to take”
The final word has come to the matter, which has reached the Council of State (last level of administrative justice), concerning the payment or otherwise of the withholding tax by Airbnb and all the other portals through which holiday homes are rented.
AIRBNB AND WITHHOLDING, WHICH JUSTICE SAYS
The answer to whether booking portals must collect and pay to the State the dry tax on short-term rentals lies in sentence no. 9188/2023 published today, through which the Council of State conforms to the principles enunciated by the Court of Justice of the European Union with a sentence dated 22 December 2022.
Read also: Why the war between Corriere della Sera and Repubblica is taking place on Airbnb
Thus the Council of State noting that the art. 4, paragraph 5 bis, of legislative decree no. 50 of 2017 is in conflict with European law and annulled the act of the Revenue Agency dated 12 July 2017, which had established the obligation to appoint a tax representative for intermediaries not resident in Italy or established there.
Furthermore, it rejected for the rest the appeal brought against the other decisions of the Revenue Agency, on the obligation of intermediaries to communicate to the Revenue Agency itself the data of the contracts concluded through them, as well as to carry out the tax withholding and pay it to the 'Treasury.
FEDERALBERGHI'S COMMENT
“We trust that the pronouncement of the Council of State will put an end to a soap opera that has dragged on for more than six years”, is the comment from Federalberghi, who never misses an opportunity to stick the portal managers. “All this time, Airbnb has seized on every loophole to avoid complying with state laws.”
Still speaking of the ruling which reiterates that booking portals must collect and pay to the State the dry tax on short-term rentals, Federalberghi recalls that it "intervened in the ruling alongside the Revenue Agency to promote market transparency, in everyone's interest operators, because tax evasion and unfair competition damage both traditional tourism businesses and those who manage new forms of hospitality correctly".
Finally, regarding the recent reports according to which the Revenue Agency has asked Airbnb to repay 500 million euros in unpaid taxes, "we hope that no discounts will be given and that the American web company will be invited to pay in full the sums stolen from the treasury in recent years, without forgetting penalties and interest.”
AIRBNB'S POSITION
“Airbnb has always intended to collaborate with the authorities in tax matters and supports the correct payment of taxes by hosts by applying the European reference legislation on reporting, known as DAC7”, Airbnb's comment on the ruling. Then the group adds: "We are analyzing the sentence and evaluating the most appropriate initiatives to undertake."
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia-on-demand/perche-il-consiglio-di-stato-delude-airbnb/ on Tue, 24 Oct 2023 14:09:11 +0000.