To the attention of Airbnb hosts

The so called “support procedure” has been introduced by § 90/A and 90/B of the Act XCII of 2003 on the rules of taxation since January 1, 2017. This is mostly the case for those who provide short-term accommodation through Airbnb. It is important and worthwhile to cooperate with the tax administration (NAV).
 
In 2017 a new era started at the NAV: Instead of punishing taxpayers, the tax administration is dedicated to reduce black market transactions and to encourage voluntary compliance.
 
Under the support procedure, the NAV will contact the relevant taxpayer by mail and advise it to carry out self-control instead of imposing immediate sanctions. Finding it necessary, NAV will also supply direct professional support to eliminate any errors or deficiencies regarding closed tax returns.
 
The NAV has repeatedly indicated that it will pay special attention to taxpayers providing short term accommodation services on a commercial basis. Following the establishment of the legal background, the NAV has begun to contact taxpayers in the recent weeks.
 
The starting point for this is a summary register provided by the Irish tax administration to the NAV listing those who signed up for Airbnb in 2015 and had income in that year from this activity. All the tax administration will have to do in order to reveal errors or deficiencies is to compare this register with the tax returns submitted for 2015.
 
If the NAV finds a discrepancy, at its own discretion, instead of an immediate control, it may launch a support procedure offering a self-check to the taxpayer. Participation in the procedure is voluntary but it is worth living with the opportunity offered by the NAV: the tax administration cannot impose fines due to errors and deficiencies detected during self-examination.
If a support procedure ends ineffectively because of the lack of cooperation, the launch of the control is almost automatic which generally entails imposing fines.
 
If the NAV has already contacted you and you need personalized information, don’t hesitate to contact our experts at Ecovis Hungary Legal. We are pleased to help you.