Booking and Airbnb report your income to the tax office: what they know, since when and what it means for you

Short answer: yes. Since the 2023 tax year, all rental platforms (Booking, Airbnb, Vrbo, Holidu and the rest) are required by the European DAC7 directive to report to the tax office every year who has been paid, how much, for which home and for how many days. In Spain they do it with form 238, in January. That data appears in your pre-filled tax return and is cross-checked with what you declare. There is no platform income the tax office does not see.

What information exactly do they send?

• Your name, tax number, address and bank account for payments.
• The address and cadastral reference of the home.
• The total amount received per quarter, the commissions withheld and the number of days rented.
• The licence number if you have entered it.

That is why platforms ask you for your tax number and full details: if you do not provide them, they are obliged to block payments.

Since when?

Since 2023 income (reported in January 2024). Before that there was another obligation, form 179, which went back and forth in the courts and which the tax office abolished from the 2024 tax year (Royal Decree 117/2024 and Order HAC/72/2024, which approved form 238). If you read that platforms report "every quarter with the 179", that is old information: today it is the 238, once a year, with amounts broken down by quarter.

What does it mean for me?

1. Declare everything, including the cleaning the guest pays: the platform reports it as your income.
2. Match the amounts: the income the platform reports is the gross (what the guest paid for accommodation and cleaning), not what was paid into your account. If you declare the net, it does not match and the letter arrives.
3. The days the platform reports are the ones the tax office will use to check the prorating of expenses and the imputed income.
4. The commissions the platform reports (with their VAT) must match the expense you deduct: if you deduct more commission than is on record, it is visible.

Does it appear in my pre-filled return?

Yes, in the tax data, as "income from digital platforms" or similar, with the platform and the amount. It is not always transferred to the property section; often it has to be entered by hand in the property section with the days and expenses.

What if it does not match or the platform made a mistake?

It happens (cancelled bookings that get reported, amounts in another currency). Declare what is correct according to your statements and keep the justification. If the tax office asks, provide the platform's statement.

And direct bookings, without a platform?

Nobody reports them but you, but the guest can ask for an invoice, payments arrive in your bank account and traveller registration with the police leaves a trace of every stay. Declaring them is the only sensible option.

What changes with a manager?

If the listings are in your name, the platform reports you. If they are in the manager's name, the platform reports the manager, and it is the manager who pays you and invoices or certifies what is due to you. In both cases you declare what you receive; what changes is where the data the tax office already has comes from. Explained in Who is the holder of the listing?.