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Airbnb Agrees to Pay Eye-Popping $621 Million to End Italian Tax Dispute

The massive figure is actually lower than what authorities ordered last month.

Airbnb on Wednesday announced it had agreed to pay Italian authorities $621 million to end a long-running dispute in which the vacation rental platform was accused of not paying enough tax. The payment to the Italian Revenue Agency is actually lower than what local authorities had ordered last month, when a judge said around $840 million should be seized from the company’s European headquarters in Ireland over alleged tax evasion. Italian prosecutors had argued that Airbnb failed to comply with a 2017 law stipulating that short-term rental platforms withhold 21 percent of landlords’ rental income and pay it to local tax authorities. In a statement, Airbnb said the settlement covers withholdings between 2017 and 2021, and that the company is continuing its “constructive engagement” with Italian authorities for 2022 and 2023.