If Airbnb withheld taxes which were sent to the IRS, filing a U.S. tax return is generally the way to get that money back. As the company tells us on its website (here), you should get a 1099 or 1042-S form showing the withholding amount. And how much of that will ultimately be refunded depends on the other U.S. source income and deductions on your return.
Since you wrote that the withheld taxes were “foreign,” I’m assuming that means you’re living outside the U.S. (as taxes for other countries aren’t remitted to the IRS). If this is correct, you would need to file this 1040NR form, which isn’t supported by TurboTax, but is supported by our partner, Sprintax (here).
But if my assumption is wrong and you’re a U.S. resident, the confusion you mentioned is lingering (but on my part now!). You would file a 1040 return in that case (the TurboTax main page would be Step One), and would claim the withholding as stated above, as long as it was indeed U.S. tax which was sent to the IRS. But if the taxes were actually withheld not for the IRS, but for another country (as discussed by Airbnb here), then the rules of that country would dictate any possible refund process. (TurboTax employees can’t speak on that, but sometimes someone else comes by who is familiar.)
@Laleda92, be sure to re-post with any followup questions (or to correct my confused ramblings, so I can possibly be more helpful!)...
**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post
**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"
