Booking.com made a payment of 94 million euros to the tax authorities in Italy through an accession procedure with theRevenue Agency. This move allowed the company to resolve a tax dispute relating to the failure to submit VAT returns for the years since 2013 al 2021, thus avoiding seizure. Payment resolves the issue raised by Chiavari Financial Policeunder the coordination of Genoa prosecutor’s office.
Booking.com takes up the issue with the tax authorities in Italy
As SkyTG24 reports, the Genoa prosecutor’s office stated that investigations had revealed that Booking.com practiced the “indiscriminate reverse charge“, applying this mechanism to all “advertiser” hoteliers and guesthouses, regardless of their VAT number.
This practice was considered incorrect, since the reverse charge should be applied only from suppliers with a VAT number. For hoteliers or guest houses without a VAT number, Booking.com failed to issue invoices with Italian value added tax and to submit annual tax returns for the years 2013-2021.
The search highlighted that the investigation developed thanks to the documentation provided by the Dutch judicial authorities, after a coordination meeting in October 2022 at Eurojust. During the course of the investigation, Booking.com has submitted a VAT return in Italy for the year 2022in accordance with the Agency’s requests, with a tax of over 19 million euros.
Booking.com commitments
Booking.com has also adopted a new organizational model compliant with Italian tax provisions. Under this model, if a hotel customer does not provide a valid VAT number or has no VAT number, Booking.com will apply VAT to 22% on the invoice. Furthermore, the company undertakes to complete the declarations and pay the tax in Italy for all transactions with private individuals who do not have a VAT number.
Booking.com issued this statement to us regarding the matter: “At Booking.com we are committed to ensuring that we operate in compliance with the laws in all countries in which we operate. This includes our diligence in paying all taxes levied on our activities. Today, as in the past, we believe we are in compliance with current Italian VAT laws and we can confirm that we have signed up to a mutual satisfaction agreement with the Revenue Agency for the period 2013-2021. We are therefore pleased to have reached this resolution and to be able to continue to focus all our efforts and attention on offering the highest quality services to our customers and partners in Italy.”