Over 35,000 Kenyan Airbnb's yet to comply with Tourism levy

This comes after the Tourism Fund and other regulatory agencies launched a new registration of Airbnb’s in an effort to bring them under the tax bracket.

The regulatory authorities have expressed concerns about the amount of revenue being lost as more Kenyans are now opting for luxurious Airbnb’s than traditional hotels for accommodation

According to the Tourism Fund, it is scanning the Kenyan online booking landscape to weed out those who are not remitting the two percent tourism levy as required by law, given that Airbnb operations fall under the umbrella of tourism promotion.

Speaking at a stakeholder meeting of the North Rift Economic Bloc (Noreb) officials, Tourism Fund Chief Executive Officer David Mwangi stated that discussions are underway with the Airbnb Africa office to have everyone running the business be registered and remit to the tourism fund.

“We urge all hosts to know that they offer accommodation and as a result are required by law to register and remit the 2 percent levy.”

Registered businesses in the tourism sector are supposed to remit a 2% tourism levy to fund various tourism-related initiatives, infrastructure development, and promotional activities.

The Tourism Tund is a government corporation that was established under the Tourism Act of 2011 and it’s mandated to support tourism growth in the country.