Airbnb handed over €13.5m tourist tax in 2017

Local authorities in France received €13.5million in taxe de séjour from Airbnb properties in 2017, the short-term rental website has announced.

That figure is nearly double to €7.3million it paid over in taxe de séjour in the previous 12 months.

More than half of that was raised in Paris alone (€6.9million), with Nice enjoying an Airbnb tourist tax bonus of €860,000, and Marseille €790,000.

All three cities are linked to the company's automatic tourist tax collection system, which will be expanded to 15,000 towns and cities across France in 2018.

Meanwhile, another €550,000 has been paid out from ski resorts in the Alps.

Local authorities can charge tax on Airbnb properties of up to €0.75 per night. This compares to €4 for the most prestigious hotels, known as palaces, €3 for five star ones, €2.25 for four star and €1.50 for three star.