Airbnb Agrees to Collect Tourism Tax in Paris, Its Biggest Market

Airbnb really wants to keep Parisian officials happy. Oui, oui.

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And not just to be polite. With 50,000 rentals listed, the French capital is the home-rental platform’s largest market in the world.

As of Oct. 1, Airbnb will begin automatically collecting the tourism taxes from guests and remitting them directly to the Parisian City Hall on behalf of hosts, the company announced today. Previously, hosts would have to collect the tax individually and pay it to Parisian City Hall.

The tourism tax will pop up on Airbnb guest receipts for the amount of 83 euro cents, or 95 U.S. cents, per person per night. The charge will be identified as a “meublés touristiques non classés,” according to a blog post announcing the administrative change.

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Paris is not the first city where San Francisco-based Airbnb has agreed to collect a tourist tax. Other cities where it pays tourist taxes include San Francisco, Portland, Amsterdam, Philadelphia, Chicago, Malibu, San Jose, San Diego and Washington, D.C.

“This is a complicated venture as tax rules vary in nearly every jurisdiction where we do business, but we are committed to extending this programme and look forward to working with more cities on this matter,” the Airbnb blog post reads.

The conciliatory tone Airbnb belies choppier negotiations the platform has experienced with the hotel industry in Paris in particular. Hoteliers have petitioned the French government to constrain the wildfire spread of Airbnb in Paris. Travelers can rent accommodations through Airbnb for much less than they can book a hotel room, and that’s hurting the French hotel industry big time.