Airbnb tax in Belgium: which taxes do you pay as a host?

Short answer: if you host on Airbnb in Belgium, four things apply to you. (1) Your municipality's tourist tax, which Airbnb does not collect for you in Belgium. (2) VAT: 12% on accommodation since 1 March 2026, unless you fall under the small business exemption. (3) Income tax on what you earn, which depends on how you rent. And (4) the DAC7 report: every year Airbnb tells the tax authorities what you received through the platform. So your tax return has to match what Airbnb reports.

Below you will find, for each of the four, what is certain, what depends on your situation, and how to keep your records so that you never have to reconstruct anything during an audit.

1. Tourist tax: your municipality, your declaration

Tourist tax (also called city tax or accommodation levy) is a municipal tax in Belgium. Each municipality decides whether to levy it, how much, and how often you declare. Two examples from the official regulations:

• Antwerp: €3.20 per tourist per night for room-based accommodation such as a B&B or holiday home (excluding VAT). Children under 12 are exempt. You declare per quarter, within 14 days after the quarter ends.
• Ghent: €3.93 per adult per night for hotels and B&Bs (rate for 2026 to 2028).

Important if you rent through Airbnb: Airbnb does not collect or remit the tourist tax for you in Belgium. You charge it, you declare it and you are liable if it is missing. How to set it up on Airbnb and Booking.com without charging it twice or not at all is explained in Airbnb and city tax in Belgium: who collects it?. The Ghent and Antwerp rules are covered in more detail in handling tourist tax for your B&B.

2. VAT: 12% or exempt

Since 1 March 2026 Belgium applies 12% VAT to overnight stays (previously 6%). If you are VAT-registered, that 12% is part of the price the guest pays on Airbnb, and you remit it.

Many small hosts fall under the small business exemption scheme: if your annual turnover stays under €25,000, you can choose not to charge VAT. In that case you cannot reclaim VAT on your purchases either. Whether that suits you depends on your turnover and your investments. More in 12% VAT on accommodation in Belgium.

Note: the tourist tax is separate from VAT. They are two different amounts, for two different authorities.

3. Income tax: depends on how you rent

There is no answer that is right for everyone, and anyone promising you a fixed percentage is telling only half the story. How your Airbnb income is treated depends, among other things, on:

• Do you rent as a private individual or as a business? Someone who occasionally rents out a furnished room or home is in a different position from someone running a B&B with a company number.
• Do you provide services? Breakfast, daily cleaning, linen and a reception make rental more likely to count as a professional activity.
• Do you rent furnished? With furnished rental the tax authorities usually distinguish between the part of the rent for the building and the part for the furniture, and the two are not taxed the same way.

Go through this once, thoroughly, with your accountant, ideally before your first return, and read the guidance of the Belgian Federal Public Service Finance. This article is general information, not tax advice.

What does apply to everyone: you declare your income yourself. The fact that Airbnb reports it too (see below) does not mean your return fills itself in.

4. DAC7: what Airbnb reports to the tax authorities

Under the European DAC7 directive (Directive 2021/514), online platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com have to send information about their hosts to the tax authorities. The first report covered 2023; since then platforms report every year by 31 January on the previous calendar year. The data is exchanged with the country where you as a host live or are established.

For rentals of homes and rooms this includes:

• your identity (name, address, and for businesses the company number);
• the address of each rented property;
• the amounts you received through the platform per quarter;
• the commissions and fees the platform withheld;
• the number of days each property was rented.

You also receive an overview of what was reported about you. Keep it with your accounts: it is exactly what the tax office will put next to your return.

Where it goes wrong in practice

Most problems are not caused by the rules but by records that do not match what the platforms report:

1. Net instead of gross. Airbnb pays you out after deducting its fees. If you only add up the payouts on your bank account, you end up with a different number than the DAC7 report, which lists the withheld commission separately.
2. Tourist tax forgotten or charged twice. Is it already in your Airbnb price, or do you ask for it on arrival? If you handle it differently per channel, you quickly lose track.
3. Channels mixed up. Bookings via Airbnb, Booking.com and your own website each work differently: different commission, different payout date. See also calculating net revenue per booking channel.

The fix is boring but it works: for every booking, keep the gross amount, the commission, the net amount received, the number of nights and guests, and the tourist tax. Then you can trace every figure in the DAC7 report in a few minutes.

How BedFlow PMS makes this easier

In BedFlow PMS your bookings from Airbnb, Booking.com and your own website come together in one calendar and one overview. For each booking you see the channel, the nights, the number of guests and the amount. Your municipality's tourist tax is calculated automatically from the number of guests and nights, and it appears as a separate line on the invoice. Invoices get the right VAT rate per line and go straight to your accounting software. That gives your accountant everything needed to make your return match what the platforms report. More on invoicing and integrations in the documentation.

In short

• Tourist tax: municipal, and Airbnb does not collect it for you in Belgium. Antwerp €3.20 per tourist per night, Ghent €3.93 per adult per night.
• VAT: 12% on accommodation since 1 March 2026, unless you fall under the small business exemption (turnover under €25,000).
• Income tax: depends on private or business, services and furnished rental. Have your accountant check it.
• DAC7: Airbnb and Booking.com report your receipts, commissions and rented days to the tax authorities every year by 31 January.
• Keep gross, commission, net and tourist tax per booking.

Want your bookings, tourist tax and invoices in one place? Check the pricing or try BedFlow PMS free for 30 days, no credit card needed.