Italy may oblige real estate agents such as Airbnb to withhold 21% tax on the rent and pay it to the tax authorities. The freedom to provide services does not preclude either the obligation to collect and transmit information or the obligation to withhold taxes. This is the opinion of Advocate General Maciej Szpunar of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in his so-called Opinion.
The case has to be heard by the ECJ because Airbnb Ireland UC and Airbnb Payments UK Ltd, which belong to the Airbnb Group, had filed a lawsuit. The reason for this was the introduction of a law in Italy on June 1, 2017. This introduced a tax regulation for the non-commercial short-term rental of properties. The tax regulation applies to contracts for the non-commercial rental of residential properties by natural persons for a maximum period of 30 days. It does not matter whether the contracts are concluded directly with the tenants or indirectly via real estate agents or operators of internet portals such as Airbnb.
It is not yet clear when the ECJ's ruling is expected. Interested parties can read the Advocate General's Opinion at curia.europa.eu or view it in English at audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/. Opinions are legal submissions to which the ECJ is not bound, but which it generally follows. Opinions must be drawn up by an Advocate General in a non-partisan and independent manner.
Source: curia.europa.eu
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