MPs call for crackdown on illegal holiday renters

Lawmakers on Tuesday called for a crackdown on people renting out their properties but who continue to evade the taxman by not registering as Airbnb.

The House commerce committee discussed the matter during an extraordinary session. Due to the intervening presidential elections, normally parliament is in recess and will reconvene regularly in March.

Committee chair Kyriacos Hadjiyiannis later said that only some 5,000 properties out of the estimated 15,000 have applied to register as self-catering tourist accommodation or Airbnb.

“That is why it has been decided to apply pressure, but also for the junior ministry of tourism to provide assistance, so that the remaining 70 per cent also file an application.”

The MP stressed that “we shall not help anyone who has not shown interest in filing an application or who wants to operate on their own terms, because competition cannot be distorted but rather must take place according to the law and the market.

“Hotel beds and Airbnb beds are meant for different types of tourists. If Airbnb properties operate without paying taxes, it means they are breaking the law, so we must provide solutions to a problem that has existed for decades.”

Parliamentarians have drafted two bills, intended as a carrot-and-stick for wayward Airbnb providers.

The first involves giving facilities to property owners so that they register as self-catering tourist accommodation; the second bill would grant an extension to such properties to properly register.

Hadjiyiannis said incentives would be given to those possessing a title deed and a town planning permit and to those generating electricity from renewables if they are not hooked up to the grid.

The extraordinary session of the committee was held because February 7 was the deadline for Airbnb providers to register with authorities. However, there was no quorum as only three MPs attended, so the proceedings took the form of an unofficial discussion.

Also attending was outgoing Deputy Minister for Tourism Savvas Perdios, in his last appearance in parliament.