Tax on Airbnb and B&B income in Ireland: what to declare

Whether you let one room on Airbnb a few weekends a year or run a five-room guesthouse, the income from your guests is taxable. What changes is how Revenue classes it, what you can deduct, and which form you use. This guide follows Revenue’s own pages, quoted below.

Guests are not tenants

Revenue does not treat short stays as rental income. Its rental income page explains that when you provide accommodation “to occasional visitors for short periods”, for example through an online booking site, the visitors “use the accommodation as guests rather than as tenants”. So the rules for landlords (Case V) do not apply, and neither does rent-a-room relief, which excludes lettings of 28 days or less.

Case IV or Case I?

Your situation	How Revenue taxes it
Occasional: a room or your home let now and then	Case IV, other income
An ongoing business, “such as a bed and breakfast or a guesthouse”	Case I, trading income

There is no number of nights that decides it. Revenue’s test is whether the income is occasional or comes from an ongoing business; the more regular and organised your letting is, the more likely it is to be treated as trading. If you are unsure, ask an accountant before your first return: it affects how you work out your profit and how you pay.

Which form: the €5,000 line

Revenue’s page on declaring income from Airbnb sets out two cases:

• Net profit under €5,000: you can include it on your Form 12, in myAccount, under Non-PAYE income › Other income › Trading profit.
• Net profit over €5,000: “you must register for Income Tax and file a Form 11”, through the Revenue Online Service (ROS).
• Gross income over €30,000: even if your profit is under €5,000, Revenue’s self-assessment guide says you must register if your gross non-PAYE income exceeds €30,000.

Revenue’s Airbnb section measures the €5,000 on net profit, after allowed costs, but its self-assessment guide adds this second test on what guests pay you. The Form 12 route is for people whose main income is taxed under PAYE (employees and pensioners). Once you are registered for self-assessment, you file a Form 11 each year and pay preliminary tax: one more reason to keep good records from the first booking.

What you can deduct

For income from Airbnb, Revenue lists these as allowed:

• the commission you pay to online booking sites;
• cleaning fees;
• the cost of breakfast you provide to guests;
• a reasonable share of electricity, gas, heating and the like used by guests.

It adds that capital allowances and pre-trading expenses are not allowed in that case. Revenue’s Airbnb section does not say whether the same list applies when you run a B&B as a trade; if you do, ask an accountant which costs and allowances you can claim.

Keep the evidence: platform statements, invoices, and a simple way of working out the share of household bills (for example, the number of rooms let and nights booked). Revenue’s manual on rental income asks landlords to keep their computations for six years; doing the same for guest income is a sensible habit.

The commission is deductible, but it is still a cost

Platform commission reduces your taxable profit, but it is money you never see. A booking that comes through your own website costs you a few per cent in booking system and card fees instead of 15% or more. Our fee calculator shows the difference on one booking, and the direct booking calculator over a year.

Revenue knows what the platforms paid you

Under the EU rules known as DAC7, platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com must report information about hosts who rent out accommodation through them. The first reports covered 2023. Each year, platforms file their return by 31 January for the previous calendar year, with Revenue or with the tax authority of another EU country, which passes it on to Revenue, and must send each host a copy of the information they reported. If you receive one of these statements, check that the figures match what you declare.

A quick checklist

1. Decide, with an accountant if needed, whether your guest income is Case IV (occasional) or Case I (a business).
2. Keep every platform statement and invoice, and note how you split household bills.
3. Work out your net profit and your gross takings: if you are taxed under PAYE and you are under €5,000 profit and €30,000 gross, Form 12 in myAccount; otherwise, register for Income Tax and file a Form 11 on ROS.
4. Compare your figures with the DAC7 statements the platforms send you.
5. Do not claim rent-a-room relief on short-stay guests.

The short-term letting register, proposed in a bill published in October 2026, is a separate obligation from tax: follow that guide for its progress.

This guide explains Revenue’s published rules in plain English. It is not tax advice: for your own situation, talk to Revenue or a tax adviser.