Airbnb renters in Brussels must now charge hotel tax

Anyone renting out a spare room or other property via the online booking site Airbnb will have to pay the equivalent of the tax applied to hotels starting on 1 February, Brussels minister-president Rudi Vervoort has announced. On that date, responsibility for hotel tax shifts from the 19 municipalities to the region.

Up to now, municipalities have applied the hotel tax at varying rates and using different methods: In Brussels-City, tax has been paid according to the actual occupancy of each room, while in Saint-Gilles, the tax has been charged annually, regardless of the level of occupancy. Under the region, the tax becomes €4 per night per occupied room for all hotels.

The tax of €3 per night now applies to Airbnb renters, who until now paid no tax. However, from an estimated 7,000 people offering accommodation in the capital via the site, fewer than 2,000 have registered their accommodation with their municipality. More than half of those registrations come from Brussels-City, Vervoort told parliament.

Airbnb has complained that the rules are too complex; Vervoort said that the new regulations would be evaluated after 18 months.