Taxes – Airbnb has confirmed that the Kenya Revenue Authority KRA had knocked on its door seeking to peruse documents ranging from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022.
In the information shared by the service provider Airbnb today Wednesday November 8, government had written a letter seeking to have an access to their business transactions dating back to January 2021.
This information will help the tax collector to know how many Kenyans rented the rooms on the platform and how much had been paid to the company.
The request for this information was confirmed by the Irish firm which said it was willing to share it out with the taxman in complete compliance with the current laws.
“KRA has issued an exchange of information request to the Irish Tax Authority (Irish Revenue) seeking certain information on Kenya hosts, and Irish Revenue has formally requested Airbnb to share this information, which we are legally obliged to do.
Those whose information will be shared out with the State are now informed to be patient for a message that will be send to them once that exercise starts.
“Irish Revenue will now be communicating to each Kenyan user, whose data is being shared, that their data is being sent to KRA under an exchange of information request,” read the statement in part,” read the firms communication today.
This communication will, according to the company, be shared anytime they rent their houses on the Airbnb platform.
“Your earnings on Airbnb are subject to Kenyan tax regulations. If you need to file a tax return, remember that you have a legal obligation to accurately report your earnings on Airbnb to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA),” added Airbnb.
Whether the taxman will nail those who did not remit their taxes or not now remains a high speculation around the country.
Airbnb which charges between sh 2,000 and 5,500 is a profitable business in Kenya with hosts making thousands of shillings during periods when there is an influx of travelers – holidays andfestivities.
Sometimes, these prices could rise upto sh 50,000 depending on the facility.
