Hi everyone so I accept that the Italian government has imposed a city tax per person per day. However, I am staying at air bnbs and other bnbs and for different places in the same city I am seeing different amounts and some charge it and some don't. This makes me wonder - does the government charge even these "private" places that are not businesses or hotels just a "spare room" type place the tax and how can I find out the real amount? I have heard often of air bnb hosts "waiving" the city tax - not something they should have the power to do, which makes me wonder if they really are being asked to pay it for each of their guests.... Happy to pay and more than happy to support their economy in any way as long as it is above board :) Thanks!!
Posted by
Eugene, Oregon...Formerly Ventura, CA
2261 posts
Not sure how you can confirm if they are "really being asked to pay it" or how to verify the correct amount. It is real though, and is normally paid in cash to the owner on arrival. Cash is preferred so they don't end up paying credit card fees on the tax they are collecting for the city. Within reason I would take their word for it and move on.
Posted by
Green Bay
20081 posts
For individual cities, you can usually find that info at websites for hotels in that city. I guess you could ask for a receipt from the owner/agent.
Posted by
Washington DC Region, USA
7049 posts
If they don't give you a proper receipt for the tax, then they're likely not paying it. They definitely wouldn't just pay it out of their pocket without you knowing - they would ask for it in cash and give you a receipt. I had a situation with booking.com where they quoted the room rate and said specifically that it included the City tax. In reality, I was asked to pay extra on-site and was not at all happy about the false advertising. I went back to booking.com and said I wanted that tax difference I paid credited back and to change the listing to avoid cheating/lowballing the true total rate in the future. I'm fairly sure the B&B was at fault here and tried to make the base rate artificially lower compared to other properties.
Airbnb is more questionable because I'm not sure all of them will have a license as a lodging establishment (like the above B&B), so who knows what they'll try to skirt. Once you get there, you'll either see their license posted or perhaps nothing at all.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
7544 posts
Let's face it, Air BnB is an unregulated service in most cities, so you cannot be certain that any or all required taxes are being paid by the owner, whether you are paying an itemized amount or not.. It is still always the responsibility of the owner to account for any taxes or fees so if they state that some portion of your rental goes towards those costs, or you show up and they then state you owe more to cover those coats...you really have no recourse, unless as a poster above mentioned, they claim the price included those costs.
My own take, if you are really renting from an agency doing any volume using Air BnB as a platform, then taxes tend to be legit, except they may be skirting some local Hotel Fees or adherance to some local ordinances. Renting from a small time owner, totally random.