Airbnb UK tax history questioned as income passes through Ireland

Company's UK rental commission earnings pass through Ireland where corporate tax regime is more favourable

Airbnb paid UK tax of 317,000 last year after its London company handled hundreds of millions of pounds in global rent payments which generated commissions for its Irish HQ.

The UK arms of the booming home sharing website paid tax on a 1.4m profit for the 11 months ending in December 2015, their first full UK accounts reveal. One of the companies handled such a large amount of rental cash that at one point it held 430m on account.