Short-term rentals come under greater scrutiny

The Independent Public Revenue Authority (AADE) has identified more than 73,000 property managers and owners who are active in short-term rentals who had “forgotten” to declare income of 102 million euros in 2022.

The data on the undeclared income reached AADE via digital platforms – Airbnb Ireland UC, Booking.com BV, VRBO Expedia Group Vacation Rentals Ireland Limited (under the cooperation protocol) – and was cross-checked with the income that had been declared. The result was that emails were sent to 73,258 managers/owners. All of them complied by submitting a new declaration of income from short-term rental and business activities of tourist accommodation totaling 102 million euros.

According to tax authorities, in 2022 the controls were mainly directed at property managers. At the same time, under the cooperation protocol, files were sent to the platforms, requiring their managers to deactivate a total of 14,736 property registrations, as they either did not have a Property Registration Number or the one they did have was not valid.

Moreover, emails were also addressed to luxury villa management websites to inquire about compliance with domestic laws. AADE has previously discovered numerous instances of high-end homes being rented out for significant sums of money, which in some cases surpassed 10,000 euros per day, without being declared to the tax authorities.

Audits will be conducted this year too in all island regions, tax authority sources say, utilizing data from digital platforms, sites, as well as information from third parties.

According to reports, audits will be particularly thorough and ongoing, covering a period beginning on March 1, with a focus on the money collected by businesses and people engaged in the short-term rental industry.

This means that the auditing authorities will look for data each month through smart devices to identify people who avoid revealing the specifics of their deductions in the register, in addition to examining the previous year’s declared income.

With turnover from short-term rentals exceeding €2.2 billion, significantly higher than in 2019, the tax administration is planning to cross-check the rentals with the data that taxpayers declare in this year’s tax returns in order to identify those who hide the income they earn from renting out their properties from the tax authorities.