Belgian regional legislation obliging property intermediation services to transmit to the tax authorities certain data relating to tourist accommodation transactions is not contrary to European Union law, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on Wednesday 27 April (Case C-674/20).
The Irish company Airbnb Ireland, which connects potential guests with professional or non-professional accommodation providers, is challenging the legality of an order by the Belgian region ‘Brussels Capital’ requiring it to communicate information on tourism transactions to the regional tax authority, alleging an infringement of the electronic commerce directive (2000/31) as well as an obstacle to the principle of free movement of services.
Referred by the Belgian Constitutional Court, the Court is of the opinion that the order on the tax on tourist accommodation falls within the field of taxation which is expressly excluded from the scope of the directive governing electronic commerce.
Secondly, the Court notes that the order concerns all providers of property intermediation services, regardless of their place of establishment and the way in which they provide these services. It concluded that the contested order was not discriminatory.
As for the argument that Airbnb Ireland is more affected by the disputed provision, the European Court considers that a greater impact is merely a reflection of the market share held by the Irish company. It adds that measures whose only effect is to generate additional costs for a given service and which affect the provision of services in the same way, regardless of the Member State to which the provider belongs, are not likely to hinder the free movement of services.
Consequently, the Court concludes that the Belgian regional order is not contrary to the freedom to provide services in the EU.
See the judgment: https://aeur.eu/f/1e0 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)