Open Grid Scheduler via flickr
Airbnb may have serious problems in France, if the country's authorities decide that the company intentionally helped its clients evade taxes. Representatives of the rental service have already been summoned to the ministry to give explanations: the company is to convince Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Minister of Budget Gérald Darmanin that the practice of using Payoneer credit cards for settlements with housing lenders in France was not aimed at concealing their incomes .
The fact that Airbnb offers homeowners to receive a cash reward not on a bank account, but on a Payoneer credit card, became known on December 1. As Radio France Info reported, such a practice exists since 2014. This company, which provides financial services, is based in New York, and its European unit is located in Gibraltar. "There is a banking secret in Gibraltar. Banks, therefore, do not provide information on the incomes of customers receiving income from Airbnb", - explained a lawyer in the field of taxation on the air of France Info. Thus, the French tax service can never learn about the citizens’ income from the housing. Therefore, the authorities believe that such a practice contributes to tax evasion.
"We found a possible complicity in money laundering from the Airbnb platform. And together with Bruno Le Maire, I undertook to question the leadership of Airbnb next week in the Ministry of Finance," Mr. Darmanin said, speaking at the National Assembly.
source: francetvinfo.fr
The fact that Airbnb offers homeowners to receive a cash reward not on a bank account, but on a Payoneer credit card, became known on December 1. As Radio France Info reported, such a practice exists since 2014. This company, which provides financial services, is based in New York, and its European unit is located in Gibraltar. "There is a banking secret in Gibraltar. Banks, therefore, do not provide information on the incomes of customers receiving income from Airbnb", - explained a lawyer in the field of taxation on the air of France Info. Thus, the French tax service can never learn about the citizens’ income from the housing. Therefore, the authorities believe that such a practice contributes to tax evasion.
"We found a possible complicity in money laundering from the Airbnb platform. And together with Bruno Le Maire, I undertook to question the leadership of Airbnb next week in the Ministry of Finance," Mr. Darmanin said, speaking at the National Assembly.
source: francetvinfo.fr