Tax authorities eye short-term lease revenues

Only 49,000 owners have declared their properties on the platform of the Finance Ministry’s Short-Term Accommodation Property Register, which means that more than 35,000 owners have neglected to do so.

The Independent Authority for Public Revenue has already launched inspections to identify the owners refusing to inform the tax authorities about the revenues they obtain from their assets, which should be taxed at rates of 15 to 45 percent.

Sources say the IAPR is planning random checks to identify taxpayers who fail to declare such revenues. The tax administration is also preparing to create a “search robot” that will automatically cross-check the properties advertised on online platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway and find out whether other services besides accommodation and bed linen (such as breakfast, guided tours etc) are provided, in which case their owners will also have to pay value-added tax.

Meanwhile, the IAPR has asked the sector’s two biggest players, Booking.com and Airbnb, to eject the owners who cannot produce the tax registration code for their properties’ short-term lease from their platforms. Both companies have complied and sent emails to their hosts-clients asking them for the codes so that they can continue their cooperation.