With the tourist season gearing up for a new record and short-term rental properties filling up in every corner of the country, the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) has activated a powerful digital arsenal to put an end to the phenomenon of “hidden Airbnb” – properties that generate income without being declared anywhere.

According to the 2024 Report, a pilot cross-check action has already been implemented to identify undeclared income from short-term rentals. This initiative marked the beginning of a new era of tax monitoring, with an emphasis on transparency, digital traces and automatic activation of controls based on risk profiles.

During 2024, a cross-check was carried out to detect undeclared income from short-term leases of real estate by individuals, without business activity related to tourist accommodation, for the tax years 2018-2019. Following the approval of the relevant information note, communication actions were implemented, responses were given to taxpayers and instructions were issued to the Tax Offices. The relevant cases were posted on BI Publisher for the competent authorities to administer and issue administrative tax assessment acts to those who did not voluntarily submit the required returns.

The number of identified taxpayers amounted to 593 VAT numbers and the total undeclared tax liability was determined at 8.9 million euros. The report on the results of the action will be presented in 2025, while its extension to the following tax years is already under consideration.

The collapse was simple – until now: hundreds of landlords or companies rented through Airbnb-type platforms without declaring the rentals. They were either maintaining multiple accounts, passing the proceeds through intermediaries, or exploiting gaps in the Short-Term Accommodation Register. The receipts went “under the radar” of the IRS, to the detriment of prudent taxpayers.

The AADE is changing the data: With cross-checking tools that leverage information from platforms, utility bills, bank data and income tax returns, it can now identify which properties are hosting tourists without being registered in the Registry. Checks are automated and targeted, and findings lead directly to tax assessments, surcharges and fines.

For the first time, the Research Department of the AADE used a combination of digital tools to “crack” the tricks. Electricity and water consumption data, bank account transactions, platform registrations and even mobile-connected access data and IP addresses were cross-referenced. If a property had five different visitors in a month, but had zero declared income, the check was automatically triggered. If there was an apartment registered to a pensioner’s or a relative’s overseas VAT number, and the money ended up elsewhere, a targeted investigation would follow.

The delinquency rate in the special checks, reached 83.4%, a figure that indicates the problem was much bigger than officially recorded. The AADE uncovered not only individual owners, but also entire “mechanisms”: managers of dozens of properties without any declaration, shell companies and lease resellers.

In 2024, more than 540.6 million euros were confirmed by special investigations by the AADE into concealed tax liabilities – with a significant part of this coming from undeclared income from short-term leases. The tax administration received an additional EUR 365.5 million from audits, increasing its efficiency by 19.5% compared to 2023.