Rental income from Airbnb and similar arrangements is taxable

It is increasingly common to make apartments or rooms available to guests in exchange for payment. The offers are often published on internet portals such as Airbnb. These marketplaces are open to the public, that is, they can also be viewed by the tax authorities.

The net income from these rental arrangements must be declared in your tax return under “other taxable income”. It is also necessary for any party renting out such spaces to pay the visitor’s tax to the municipality; this varies from municipality to municipality.

If several apartments are rented out and additional services typical of hotels such as breakfast and rental of parking spaces are offered, this is an independent (secondary) gainful activity. The profit from this must be declared in your private tax return as “self-employed income”. Income taxes are owed on such profits. In addition, social security contributions must be paid on the profit.