Object of the decision
The Community of Communes of the Isle of Oléron, represented by the firm GOLDWIN SOCIETE D’AVOCATS, accused the AIRBNB platform of failing to meet all of its obligations relating to the tourist tax for the year 2022, namely its obligations to collect the tourist tax from holidaymakers, its obligations to remit the tourist tax to the community, and finally its obligations to declare the tourist tax.
The application of Article L.2333-34-1 of the General Code of Local Authorities was at issue.
By decision rendered today, the AIRBNB platform has just been ordered to pay a total amount of €1,385,000:
- 1,360,000 euros for failure to comply with the obligation to collect the 2022 tourist tax
- 12,500 for failure to comply with the 2022 tourist tax declaration obligation
- 2,500 euros for failure to pay the 2022 tourist tax
- 10,000 euros under Article 700 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
The total amount of the sentence is €1,385,000.00 and is subject to provisional enforcement.
As the Court stated: ” given the economic importance of the protagonists, there is no justification for rejecting the provisional enforcement which is a matter of right .”
As the La Rochelle Judicial Court was able to note: ” The company AIRBNB, a major player in the market for private hotel rentals in France, with a turnover of 8.4 billion dollars in 2022, did not comply with its obligations to collect tourist tax, which justifies, given the repetition of the breaches, the imposition of a civil fine set at 10 times the amount of the tourist tax concerned, i.e. the sum of 1,360,000 euros .”
This decision is a new legal victory for the GOLDWIN law firm, which is committed to defending French public authorities. It follows in the footsteps of other convictions obtained against the platform.
