A few hundred properties in Luxembourg are listed on the online rental platform AirBnB. So far, the practice has not been regulated, but now the municipality of Mamer is seeking to bring in a tax for such properties to avoid misuse of the platform.
Mayor Gilles Roth said the council had been made aware of AirBnB activities in a family home in a Mamer residential area. Residential areas are limited to certain types of houses, without multiple households. The activity violated building regulations and has been passed to the prosecutor's office, but would be allowed in "mixed urban" areas, such as the area around Route d'Arlon in Mamer.
The tax will not seek to forbid AirBnB listings - it is designed to make AirBnB owners share this information with the municipality to allow them to keep an eye on activity. The tax will be 3% of the rental value. The plan was subject to discussions between the municipality of Mamer and the Minister for Home Affairs.
It is considered a type of "taxe de séjour", which also applies to hotels within the municipality. The National Federation of Hoteliers, Restaurateurs and Cafetiers (Horesca) revealed mixed feelings towards to the idea.
General Secretary François Koepp explained that although the overnight tax for AirBnB was positive, it would also be applied to normal hotels, which is considered a negative. The competition between AirBnB and regular hotel establishments is said to be unfair, with hotels governed by strict regulations, which do not apply to AirBnB properties.
Minister for Tourism Lex Delles agreed with Horesca's statement, saying the distinction between the sharing economy of renting out a room in one's home, and permanent hotel locations, needs to be clear. That said, the majority of AirBnB rentals are situated in the Luxembourg City municipality.
Luxembourg City currently has no immediate plans to legislate against AirBnB. The Minister plans to work alongside the municipality and AirBnB themselves to obtain a detailed analysis and react if necessary, looking at the impact and what sort of homes are affected. The Minister said they hoped to avoid homes being turned into hotels without being marked as such.
However, Delles said he did not recommend all councils follow Mamer's example, emphasising that he did not disagree with AirBnB's activities and the new brand of tourism developing in Luxembourg.
In response to Pirate Party MP Sven Clement's parliamentary question on the matter, Ministers Gramegna, Schneider and Delles confirmed that any income earned by AirBnB owners must be declared as tax revenue, as part of category 1 commercial activity. The ministers agreed that clearly defined criteria is required to ascertain whether a rented out property can be described as professional activity.
Delles will carry out the analysis over the coming months to determine what legislation is required. A study concerning the impact of rental platforms such as AirBnB has now come to an end and will be used in the workshop discussions for analysis.
