Airbnb reveals corporation tax payment of £449,802 last year

UK: Airbnb has been revealed to have paid just £449,802 in corporation tax for the year ending December 2018, down from £477,284 the previous year when HMRC began investigating the company’s UK tax structure.

Meanwhile, Airbnb’s profit hit nearly £2m after reporting revenue of £1.7m in 2017. It also recorded sales topping £300m in Great Britain. -Brittany.

In documents reportedly seen by City AM, Airbnb said it remains subject to “tax investigations and proceedings regarding its intra-corporate operations and transactions” and has been contacted about its enforcement of tax laws, ” some of which may lead to litigation”.

The majority of Airbnb’s profits in the UK are channeled through its Irish European headquarters, but it has two subsidiaries in Britain. One promotes the website nationally, while the other handles payments between tenants and landlords internationally.

Airbnb says its ongoing operations through its headquarters in Ireland are subject to “legislative risk” because the status of the legislation that governs the company “remains vague at best”.

The company has been challenged in some European markets to ensure its hosts pay the appropriate corporation tax for letting their properties to tourists. A legal challenge earlier this year that sought to classify the company as a real estate agency under French law was unsuccessful.

A spokesperson told City AM: “We follow the rules and pay all the taxes we owe in the places where we do business.

“Airbnb’s UK office provides marketing services and pays all applicable taxes. The Airbnb model is unique and has boosted the UK economy by up to £4.2 billion last year alone.

“The vast majority of money generated on our platform stays with hosts and local communities, which makes Airbnb fundamentally different from companies that take large sums of money from the places where they do business,” they added. .