Tourist accommodation tax

Verified 23 January 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister), Ministry of Economy

The municipalities or EPCI: titleContent may impose a tourist tax on the real (due by occasional residents) or on the package (due by the lodgers or hoteliers who recover it from their customers). The decision must be made before 1er July to apply from 1 er January of the following year. The decision also determines the criteria of the tax, such as the collection period (tourist season) or the amount applicable depending on the nature and classification of the accommodation.

Accommodation taxed is:

  • Bed & Breakfast
  • Outdoor accommodations (camping, caravan, camper vans and tourist parking)
  • Tourist hotel
  • Furnished tourist goods
  • Palace
  • Marina
  • Tourist residence
  • Holiday village

In order to be applicable, the tax must have been established by a decision of the municipal council or the legislative body of the EPCI.

The city council or legislative body may not exempt any type or category of accommodation for consideration.

It is the deliberation of the municipal council or the legislative body setting up the residence tax that determines the conditions for its application, either in the real or in the flat rate.

Tableau - Conditions for application of the residence tax to the actual or to the package

Real tax

Flat-rate tax

Payable

Person not resident in the municipality or in the territory of the EPCI, staying in a commercial accommodation

Homeowner, hotelier and owner who provides accommodation for people passing through for a fee

Calculation method

Number of nights spent

Independent of actual number of people hosted.

Tax based on capacity (number of persons the establishment can accommodate), to which a reduction of between 10% and 50%.

The reduction depends on the length of time the establishment is open

Exemption

- Person under 18 years of age

- Holder of a seasonal employment contract employed in the municipality

- Beneficiary of emergency accommodation or temporary relocation

- Person occupying premises the rent of which is less than an amount determined by the municipal council

Invoice to Customer Mention

Mandatory

Must be separate from the room price (tax not included in the room price)

Not mandatory

If the tax is passed on to the price of the accommodation, the host can indicate on the invoice flat-rate tourist tax included

VAT

Not included in the VAT taxable amount, because the dwelling is a collector of the tax and must include it in his invoice to the customer

Included in the taxable amount for VAT purposes of the dwelling because the tax is included in the selling price

Before the start of the collection period (corresponding to the tourist season), the actual or flat-rate tax rates are fixed by deliberation of the municipal council, or the legislative body of theEPCI: titleContent.

However, these rates must be between a minimum (floor) and a maximum (ceiling) rate for each category of accommodation, based on the official classification of the accommodation.

The tax must be collected by the lodger, before the departure of the people accommodated, even if he has accepted a deferred rent payment.

In addition, the departmental council may, on deliberation, establish a additional fee of 10% the tourist tax levied in the department. It is recovered according to the same criteria as the residence tax to which it is added. It is paid by the municipality to the department.

To know the price of the tourist tax in a municipality, you can use this online service:

Tourist tax rates per municipality

The rates of the updated tourist tax for 2024 by type of accommodation tourist by classification are available on our page dedicated to tourist rentals and accommodation: Tourist tax: what are the rates?.

Warning  

The additional fee in Île-de-France in 2024 will 200%. To learn more, you can consult our news: New additional tax to the tourist tax in Île-de-France for 2024

The tax rate must be displayed in town hall and at the lodger's or the intermediary responsible for collecting the tax (real estate agency for example).

The conditions for declaration and payment differ according to the type of tourist tax:

  • for the real tax : the taxable lodgers or hoteliers must pay the amount of the tax collected to the local accountant on the dates fixed by the municipal council or the legislative body of the EPCI
  • for the flat-rate fee : the lodger or hotelier must send, at the latest 1 month before the collection period, a declaration to the town hall, indicating the nature of their accommodation, the period of opening or rental and the reception capacity on which the tax is based. The lump sum payment must be paid to the local accountant on the dates fixed by the city council or legislative body.

Tax payments may be made once or several times in the year.

Some city councils are putting these forms online or allowing the declaration to be made directly online. (To be checked on the website of the City Hall or the EPCI, in particular Paris.)

In the event of no declaration or late payment, the mayor or the president of the EPCI may initiate an ex officio taxation procedure, after formal notice. In the absence of regularization, a reasoned ex officio notice of taxation shall be sent to the declarant in default at least 30 days before the assessment. Any delay in payment shall give rise to the application of interest on late payment of 0.20% by month of delay.

Warning  

the declaration for the tourist tax must not be confused with the compulsory declaration to be made, before the rental starts, by individuals who rent out all or part of their personal dwelling during the taxation period (bed and breakfast, furnished tourist). Except for furnished tourist, if it is the main residence (dwelling occupied at least 8 months a year except professional obligation, health reason or case of force majeure).

FAQ