Local laws and regulations

Updated 1 month ago | 5 min read time
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It’s important to us that the regions you operate in remain thriving locations for both visitors and residents. In some of these cities, laws and regulations on short-term and long-term rentals have been introduced to protect both you and your guests. Before you list your property with us, it’s important to make sure you’re aware of any of these regulations that affect your city, region or country.

Short stays

In many areas, property owners are required to hold a permit or licence if they wish to list their property as a short-term holiday rental. In some places, local authorities limit bookings to a maximum number of nights per year. In other places, there are limits to how many guests can stay at a property.

Longer stays

When hosting longer stays, you may be subject to landlord-tenant laws. These vary by location and may create additional legal obligations for you and provide guests with additional legal rights. For example, in some places guests who stay in a home or apartment for a certain period of time may be protected by tenant rights, or there may be limits on the amount of ‘rent’ that you can charge them.

We encourage you to review your local rules and regulations before listing your property for longer stays. For more detailed information, as well as the latest updates about which laws and regulations apply to you, take a look at your local municipality’s website.

We’ve included links below to various municipalities’ websites and other guidance, but this list is not a complete overview of all mandatory legal requirements. You may need to meet additional requirements – such as licences, permits, health and safety obligations and zoning rules – before you can make your property available for short-term or long-term rental on our platform. You should also seek your own independent legal advice.

 

Our data reporting obligations in Austria

Why we’re sharing partner data

In January 2020, the Austrian Ministry of Finance introduced new reporting obligations that apply to platforms that facilitate the supply of particular certain services in Austria. As a result, we’re required to provide certain data about our partners to the Austrian Ministry of Finance each year.

The type of data that we share with the Austrian authorities

If you’re a partner based in Austria, we’re required by law to report data that includes your legal name, address and VAT registration number, as well as the type of service you supply – for our partners this is accommodation – and the monthly amount of revenue you earn on our platform.

The booking periods we share data for

By 31 January each year, we’re required to report data related to bookings made in the previous calendar year. We reported this data for the first time in January 2021.

What happens if a partner doesn’t provide the data that we’re required to report

The only required data that it’s usually possible we don’t already have is a partner’s VAT registration number. If you’re based in Austria and you haven’t yet provided us with your VAT registration number, we recommend that you do this as soon as possible to avoid enquiries from the Austrian authorities. To do this, log in to the extranet, click on Finance and then click on VAT Details.

Regardless of these data reporting obligations, we’re required to record your VAT registration number – or the reason you’re not required to be registered for VAT in Austria – if the revenue you earn through our platform exceeds €35,000 in a calendar year. If we don’t receive this information, we’re required to suspend your property from our platform. We can’t provide advice on whether you’re required to register for VAT in Austria – if you need more information, we recommend that you contact your tax advisor or accountant.

What happens if a partner doesn't want us to share their data with them

We’re required by law to share our partners’ information with the Austrian authorities, even if a partner asks us not to.

What the Austrian Ministry of Finance does with this data

The Austrian Ministry of Finance hasn’t confirmed how it uses the data we share, but we expect that at a minimum it’s used to determine whether partners are compliant with VAT requirements in Austria.

To find out more about our data reporting obligations in Austria, take a look at the Austrian Ministry of Finance’s website.

 

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