Airbnb has challenged Belgian local law, which provides for the transfer of certain data on tourist facilities transactions to the tax administration. That is why the EU court rejected Airbnb’s appeal

Airbnb has filed a lawsuit against Belgian local law, demanding that tax authorities provide information on tourist transactions.

An EU court this morning rejected the appeal.

Here’s the reason.

EU court ruling

Belgian local law requiring real estate brokerage service providers, in particular, managers of electronic platforms for residential services such as Airbnb to transfer certain data about tax administration, is not subject to EU law. Facilities.

This was it Judgment EU Court of Appeals against Housing Services Company

What AIRBNB supported

Airbnb argued in its appeal that this requirement violated the principle of freedom to provide services.

Why AIRBNB is wrong

However, the EU court reported that the request of the Belgian authorities was not “against the freedom to provide services in the Union” and that the provisions of local legislation required managers to be informed of certain data on tourist accommodation. Behavior, therefore, is excluded from the scope of the e-commerce directive.

In its judgment today, the EU Court held that “the obligation to provide certain information relating to the activities of tourist facilities regarding all real estate brokerage providers is not discriminatory, but binds the respective providers concerned with the protection of activity-related data. The tourist facilities shall also be referred to the local tax administration at the request of the latter”.

What is happening now

It is now up to the national judge to decide the case in accordance with the sentence of the EU court that “equally connects other national judges who have submitted a similar issue.”

An Airbnb spokesman was interviewed by an Irish newspaper RteThe company said it had taken note of the ruling and that the case would now return to the Belgian Constitutional Court.

AIRBNB response

“Airbnb is a good partner in data sharing and taxation. We have already welcomed the EU Member States’ agreement on a common tax reporting framework for digital platforms known as DAC 7,” he said. Rte Spokesman.

He added: “We look forward to implementing this proposal, which will provide a more consistent and quality approach to information sharing across the European Union.”