Irish Airbnb hosts are calling on the Irish Government to include the nominal income received from hosting into the rent a room scheme.

Revenue defines Rent-a-Room relief as 'An individual who lets a room (or rooms) in his or her sole or main residence as residential accommodation may be exempt from income tax in respect of income from the letting where the aggregate of the gross rents and any sums for meals or other services supplied in connection with the letting does not exceed the threshold for the year in question'.

We are asking that hosts who welcome guests into their primary residence be allowed to benefit from the rent-a-room relief scheme, instead of being forced in to paying high rates of tax simply because of our choice of tenant.

Many hosts are in the unfortunate position of negative equity or need the income from airbnb to pay bills. It is entirely unfair to exclude hosts from the rent a room scheme, hosts who may be in negative equity and use this income to support their families, go back into education or make a career change. It is unreasonable to expect hosts who let rooms or homes for a couple of days/weeks a year to pay heavy tax, in some cases 51%, on their supplemental income. We do not disagree that landlords or those making substantial income should be liable for taxes however ordering hosts earning less than 12,000 a year to pay taxes is excessive.

Furthermore hosts facilitate a different type of tourism that brings income to local small businesses that may ordinarily be overlooked. Hosts spread the value of hospitality which generates enormous economic and community benefits to local small towns throughout Ireland.

Many hosts have already delisted their properties as a result of the changes. If you’ve visited Dublin or plan to and hope to use Airbnb when you travel, please help us by singing the petition so we can continue to host.