Airbnb is dealing with the prospect of a tax invoice value lots of of hundreds of thousands of euros following an Italian court docket ruling in an evasion case.
Prosecutors in Milan say a decide authorised the seizure of €779.5m (£677m) from the short-term property rental platform.
They stated it associated to an alleged failure by the corporate to adjust to legal guidelines that require Airbnb to pay Italian tax authorities 21% of landlords’ rental earnings within the nation.
The requirement dates again to an EU Courtroom of Justice ruling in 2017 that was unsuccessfully appealed by Airbnb early this 12 months.
The cash seizure order, which covers the years 2017-2021, targets Airbnb’s Eire unit and likewise three people who held managerial roles on the firm throughout that timeframe.
AIrbnb is but to remark.
It had fought the tax crackdown, which demanded Airbnb and rivals present the authorities particulars of all its rental contracts in Italy, on the grounds it broke EU rules on the liberty to function throughout the bloc.
The information might be about to worsen for Airbnb as the federal government of PM Giorgia Meloni has revealed plans to boost the rental tax fee additional, to 26%, on all short-term leases.
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Information of the tax demand got here to mild only a week after the corporate revealed file quarterly earnings of $4.4bn – part-aided by a one-off earnings tax profit associated to its property.
Group income of $3.4bn was 18% up on the identical interval final 12 months.