(TAN): At the end of December 2019, Airbnb remitted EUR 58 million ( USD 64.54 million approximately) in tourist tax to French cities. Tax collected in 2019 by Airbnb has doubled compared to the previous year (EUR 24 million).
The three French cities that received the largest amounts of tourist tax from Airbnb in 2019 are Paris (EUR 15.3M), Marseille (EUR 2.3M) and Nice (EUR 1.8M). Tourist tax collection by Airbnb benefits not only larger cities but also many communities beyond major urban hubs or tourist resorts.
Short term rental tourist tax has become an emerging resource for smaller municipalities, many of which are located in rural areas. At the end of 2019, Airbnb paid more than EUR 10.5M in tourist tax to French towns with less than 3,500 inhabitants, an amount three times higher than the previous year (EUR 3.2M).
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Every year, Airbnb continues to benefit new cities, including municipalities with no hotel accommodation that would previously have received little or no income from tourism. While only 7,000 French cities have hotel-type accommodation, 28,000 French cities now have at least one place to stay listed on Airbnb.
“The travel generated by Airbnb benefits not only Airbnb hosts, but also the communities where they live. For 28,000 French cities, each new Airbnb booking means not only additional income for hosts and increased activity for local businesses, but also new tax resources for local authorities. It’s a virtuous circle: for many towns and villages, these revenues create new opportunities to develop their attractiveness, with long-term benefits for both local families and businesses,” said Emmanuel Marill, Director of Airbnb France.
As new tourist tax rules stipulate, Airbnb will provide the required information to municipalities regarding local bookings on Airbnb in 2019. This data will include the number of guests, the total value of each booking and listing addresses. This information will enable municipalities to have a better understanding of the tourist activity generated by Airbnb and a better knowledge of the tourist accommodation sector in their community.
In the last four years alone, Airbnb has collected and remitted USD 2 billion in Tourist-related tax to local governments on behalf of our global host community. Over 400 agreements with local, state, territorial and national governments around the world have streamlined and facilitated tax collection for hosts, most of whom are sharing their homes for extra income and may not be equipped for complex accounting processes.
