Airbnb Income Is About to Be Exposed: What’s Coming, and What Overseas Real-Estate Investors Must Understand Now

There are moments in the real-estate market when, no matter how much experience you have, something shifts beneath the surface, and whoever doesn’t notice in time finds out the hard way. Smart investors know how to spot those moments in advance.

2026 is going to be exactly that kind of moment.

The 2025 Economic Efficiency Bill (the “Arrangements Law”) hides one small clause between the lines, but its impact on real-estate investors, Airbnb hosts and even on returns themselves may be far bigger than it seems.

What’s the revolution?

The state is requiring all short-term rental platforms – Airbnb, Booking.com and the like – to send the Tax Authority a detailed annual report on every landlord operating through them in Israel.

Not a general report. Not an estimate.

A full report. On every transaction. For every property. For every owner.

And that is nothing less than a regulatory big bang.

What will the platforms be required to hand over?

More than most people realise:

• Full identifying details of the property owner
• The exact address of every rented apartment
• The annual amount received from each property
• The number of transactions
• The fees charged
• In other words: every figure that shows exactly how much you earned, not how much you declared

And it’s worth knowing: Israel isn’t inventing anything. It’s simply closing a gap.

Because around the world, this has been happening for a long time.

The European Union has been collecting this kind of information since 2023 under the DAC7 standard.

In the US, the IRS issues every property owner a 1099-K form and requires the platforms to submit full reports.

New York, Los Angeles and Miami don’t allow any property to operate without registration, regulation and occupancy reporting.

And in Israel, 2026 will be the year it catches up with the rest of the world.

But there’s a point many Israelis miss, and this is where the critical part for overseas real-estate investors begins:

Not every country lets you simply list an apartment on Airbnb and wait for a booking. In many places it’s illegal without a permit.

Yes, even in the countries Israeli investors “love”.

For overseas real-estate investors, this calls for a change in thinking. Because we’ve now reached the stage where every number has to be real:

Gross? Net? Effective tax? Allowable expenses? Reporting method?

Anyone who doesn’t understand this doesn’t really know what their return is.

And if there’s one thing I tell every investor in our first conversation, it’s this:

A return that doesn’t include tax isn’t a return. It’s a fantasy.

Let’s talk real numbers, in the countries where we invest all the time:

Greece: not just tax. A permit too.

Many people think Greece is a “Wild West” for Airbnb.

In practice, not at all.

In Greece, to rent out an apartment short-term, you need:

• Official registration in the tourism register (AMA)
• A mandatory registration number for each property
• The registration number included in every listing
• And in some cases, compliance with regional rules that limit the number of nights or the number of properties

Anyone who rents out an apartment without registration is exposed to heavy fines, which quite a few investors discovered only after the fact.

And of course, all rental income is subject to progressive tax:

• First €12,000: 15%
• €12,001–35,000: 35%
• Above €35,000: 45%

On net income, after recognised expenses such as repairs, maintenance and management – but only for regular rentals.

For short-term rentals, the deduction options shrink considerably for anyone not set up as a registered business.

Romania: a tourism permit is mandatory before short-term letting

In Romania too, which Israelis love for its financial certainty, you can’t freely rent short-term:

• An official tourism permit from the local authority is required.
• There are sometimes conditions regarding safety, equipment, detectors, insurance and more.
• Only once the permit is granted can the property legally operate as short-term accommodation.

Since 2024, tax on rental income in Romania is simple:

• Flat tax: 10%
• Standard deduction: 20% of gross (no receipts needed)

In other words:

An effective tax rate of just 8%.

No bureaucracy, no tracking of expenses – which is why Romania remains a preferred destination for Israelis who want simplicity and certainty.

Georgia: simple, cheap and very clear

Here the picture is the opposite:

Once you register as a landlord, you enjoy one of the friendliest tax regimes in the world:

• Tax on short- or long-term rentals: 5% of gross
• No expenses.
• No headaches.

Anyone who doesn’t register pays 20% on net, with allowable expenses, needless bureaucracy and the loss of the main advantage.

That’s why almost all the investors I support in Georgia choose the 5% track.

How does all this affect you?

Because from now on, before you look at an apartment, a building, a project or an Airbnb, you need to ask a few simple questions:

• Is the return I’m seeing gross or net?
• What’s the tax rate in the country? On gross or on net?
• Am I even allowed to rent short-term – or do I need an official permit?
• Are there expenses I’m allowed to deduct, or am I stuck paying tax on income that exists only “on paper”?

Only once you have answers to these questions do you have a real return.

Before that? It’s an illusion.

The shift in 2025 isn’t a threat.

It’s an opportunity:

Those who understand the framework will know how to calculate a real return, monitor risks, and identify projects that are worth more as the market becomes orderly and transparent.

And I say this after supporting hundreds of deals:

A good investment isn’t the one that produces the most on paper, but the one that produces the most net, after law, tax and licensing.