One of the most significant changes in recent years regarding Airbnb’s service fee will come into effect on October 13, affecting thousands of private hosts in Greece and worldwide.
The platform is permanently discontinuing the split fee model, under which part of the commission was charged to the host and part to the guest, and is moving all hosts to the single fee model, where the entire service fee of 15.5% will be charged exclusively to the host.
The change is part of Airbnb’s strategy to introduce simpler and more transparent pricing. However, for the Greek market, it creates new challenges not only in terms of pricing strategies but also regarding the tax treatment of income generated from short-term rentals.
What applied until now
Until now, most private hosts who managed their properties independently could still use the split fee model.
Under this system:
- the host paid a commission of approximately 3% plus VAT,
- the guest paid a separate service fee of approximately 14.2% plus VAT.
Overall, Airbnb collected fees exceeding 17% of the booking value, but the cost was shared between the two sides.
This model remained available to many private hosts, even though Airbnb had already started transitioning to the new system for professional property managers and hosts using channel managers.
Airbnb service fee: How the charging model is changing
Under the new model, the separate service fee charged to guests will be eliminated for most bookings.
Instead, Airbnb will deduct a 15.5% service fee exclusively from the host.
In practice, this means that hosts who want to maintain the same net income will need to adjust the prices displayed on their calendars.
To support this transition, Airbnb provides an automatic price adjustment tool, allowing hosts to move to the new system without a significant change in the net amount they receive.
Why Airbnb is changing the model
According to Airbnb, the elimination of the split fee model is mainly aimed at improving price transparency.
Under the previous system, many guests saw one price during the search process, which increased significantly at checkout due to the platform’s service fee.
At the same time, many hosts struggled to properly align their Airbnb prices with those on other platforms, such as Booking.com. As a result, the same property often appeared more expensive on Airbnb, even though this was not a deliberate pricing decision by the host.
With the new system, the price set by the host is much closer to the final price displayed to the guest. According to Airbnb, this makes price comparison easier and simplifies management across multiple distribution channels.
The Greek factor: The tax implications
Beyond the commercial impact of the change, Greece faces an additional issue: the tax implications for private hosts.
Individuals earning income from short-term rentals without operating as a business are taxed based on their rental income and cannot deduct business expenses, unlike companies or professional entities.
This means that if a host increases the property price to offset Airbnb’s new service fee and maintain the same net income, they may end up being taxed on a higher amount, even though part of that amount will ultimately be withheld by the platform as a commission.
In simple terms, a host who previously priced a property at €100 and paid a commission of around 3% may now need to increase the price to approximately €115 in order to achieve the same net result. However, the taxable income will be calculated based on the agreed rental amount, while the commission withheld by the platform is not considered a deductible business expense for private individuals.
For this reason, many property managers estimate that the actual financial burden for private hosts may exceed the 15.5% service fee itself and should be taken into account when recalculating pricing strategies.
What hosts should pay attention to
Airbnb recommends that hosts carefully review the new arrangements before completing the transition to the new fee structure.
Particular attention is required when adjusting prices, as incorrect calculations could either lead to revenue losses or to a significant increase in the final price of the accommodation.
For Greek private hosts, the change is even more significant, as the new fee structure affects not only the competitiveness of their listings but potentially also their final tax outcome.
The end of the split fee model marks the conclusion of a system that had been in place on Airbnb for many years. Although the company argues that the new policy will provide greater transparency and simpler pricing, for thousands of Greek hosts the transition will not simply involve changing prices, but also carefully redesigning the overall financial management of their properties.
