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Tourist tax — collecting, declaring and paying over under the right regime

Municipalities and inter-municipal bodies may introduce a tourist tax either ON AN ACTUAL BASIS, owed by occasional residents, or ON A FLAT-RATE BASIS, owed by the hosts or hoteliers who recover it from their customers. The decision must be taken before 1 July to apply from 1 January of the following year, and it is that decision which sets the criteria of the tax: the collection period corresponding to the tourist season, and the amount applicable according to the nature and classification of the accommodation. Everything therefore depends on the local decision, and the two regimes share neither the same taxable person, nor the same computation, nor the same VAT treatment. On an actual basis, the tax is computed per night stayed, must appear on the invoice SEPARATELY from the room price, and does not enter the VAT base. On a flat-rate basis, it is assessed on the accommodation capacity with an abatement of 10 % to 80 % depending on the length of the opening period, and it IS included in the host's VAT base. In every case, the tax must be collected by the host BEFORE THE DEPARTURE of the people accommodated, even where deferred payment of the rent has been accepted.

Up to date for 2026 — verified on September 12, 2026Official procedure, no printed formGuide: about 20 min

This content is part of the path: Renting out a furnished holiday let· Step 10 of 10· Last step of the path

Deadlines

Before 1 July — the local decision
The decision to introduce the tax must be taken before 1 July to apply from 1 January of the following year. That decision also sets the criteria and the rates.
1 month before the collection period — the flat-rate declaration
For the flat-rate tax, the host or hotelier must send the town hall, at the latest 1 month before the collection period, a declaration stating the nature of the accommodation, the opening or letting period and the accommodation capacity used as the basis for the computation.
Before the guest's departure — collection
The tax must be collected by the host before the departure of the people accommodated, even where deferred payment of the rent has been accepted.
On locally set dates — payment over
Liable hosts pay the amount of the tax to the local public accountant on the dates set by the municipal council or the deliberative body of the inter-municipal authority. Payments may be made once or several times a year.
At least 30 days before collection — automatic assessment
Where no declaration is made or payment is late, the mayor or the president of the inter-municipal authority may start an automatic assessment procedure after a formal notice. Failing regularisation, a reasoned automatic assessment notice is sent to the defaulting declarant at least 30 days before collection.

Documents to prepare

  • Decision of the municipal council or inter-municipal body introducing the tax and setting the regime (actual or flat-rate)
  • Rate applicable to the accommodation category, taken from the rates-by-municipality service
  • Any additional taxes: 10 % departmental, 200 % in Île-de-France
  • Official classification of the accommodation, which determines the rate band
  • Flat-rate: nature of the accommodation, opening or letting period, accommodation capacity
  • Flat-rate: abatement rate applied, between 10 % and 80 % depending on the length of the opening period
  • Actual: record of nights stayed and exemptions applied (under-18s, seasonal workers, emergency accommodation, rent below the municipal threshold)
  • Display of the rate at the town hall and at the host's or the collecting intermediary's premises
  • Payment dates to the local public accountant set by the local decision
See the procedure on the official site

No form is attached to this procedure: the link leads to the official page that describes it.

What this page gives you

The guide above and the link to the official site. ActioFin does not produce any document for this page: whatever you fill in or file is done on the official medium.

Who this applies to

  • Hosts, hoteliers and owners who accommodate passing guests for consideration — they are the taxable persons under the FLAT-RATE tax
  • People not domiciled in the municipality or the inter-municipal territory who stay in commercial accommodation — they are the taxable persons under the ACTUAL tax, which the host collects
  • The eight types of taxed accommodation: guest room, open-air accommodation (campsite, caravan site, motorhome areas, tourist parking areas), tourist hotel, furnished tourist accommodation, palace, marina, tourist residence and holiday village
  • Intermediaries responsible for collecting the tax, such as an estate agency, at whose premises the rate must be displayed
  • EXEMPT under the actual tax: people under 18, holders of a seasonal employment contract employed in the municipality, beneficiaries of emergency accommodation or temporary rehousing, and people occupying premises whose rent is below an amount set by the municipal council
  • CANNOT be exempted: a type or category of paid accommodation — the municipal council or deliberative body has no power to do so

Worked example

Example: a furnished tourist rental, and what the municipality's choice between actual and flat-rate changes

An owner lets furnished tourist accommodation sleeping six. She first checks her municipality's decision: without a decision of the municipal council or of the inter-municipal deliberative body, the tax does not apply. Her municipality has opted for the ACTUAL tax. The taxable persons are therefore her customers, people not domiciled in the municipality staying in commercial accommodation, and the tax is computed on the number of nights stayed. She must collect it before her customers leave, even where she has granted them deferred payment of the rent, and show it on the invoice SEPARATELY from the room price — the statement is compulsory, and the tax is not included in that price. In return, the tax does not enter the VAT base, since it is collected on behalf of the municipality. She exempts under-18s, a seasonal worker employed in the municipality, and beneficiaries of emergency accommodation. Had her municipality opted for the FLAT-RATE tax, everything would have changed: SHE would have been the taxable person, irrespective of the actual number of people accommodated; the tax would have been assessed on the capacity of six people, less an abatement of between 10 % and 80 % depending on the length of the opening period; the statement on the invoice would not have been compulsory, and had she passed the tax on in the price, she could have used the wording "flat-rate tourist tax included"; finally, the tax would have been INCLUDED in her VAT base, being built into the selling price. She would have had to send the town hall, at the latest one month before the collection period, a declaration stating the nature of the accommodation, the opening period and the accommodation capacity.

How to fill it in, step by step

  1. First check that a tourist tax has indeed been introduced by a decision of the municipal council or of the inter-municipal deliberative body: without such a decision, it does not apply.
  2. Identify the regime chosen by that decision — actual or flat-rate tax: it determines the conditions of application, and the two regimes differ on the taxable person, the computation, the invoice and VAT.
  3. Check that your accommodation is among the taxed types: guest room, open-air accommodation, tourist hotel, furnished tourist accommodation, palace, marina, tourist residence, holiday village.
  4. Find the rate applicable to your category of accommodation, set by decision before the start of the collection period, between a floor rate and a ceiling rate fixed for each category on the basis of the official classification of accommodation. The rates-by-municipality service gives it, together with any additional taxes.
  5. Add any additional taxes: the departmental council may introduce an additional tax of 10 %, collected on the same criteria and paid over by the municipality to the department; in Île-de-France, an additional tax of 200 % is added to the rate.
  6. Display the rate of the tax at your premises — or at those of the intermediary responsible for collecting it, an estate agency for instance: display is compulsory both at the town hall and at the host's.
  7. Under the ACTUAL regime: collect the tax from each customer before their departure, apply the four exemptions, show the tax on the invoice separately from the room price, and do NOT include it in your VAT base.
  8. Under the FLAT-RATE regime: send the town hall, at the latest 1 month before the collection period, a declaration stating the nature of the accommodation, the opening or letting period and the accommodation capacity; compute the tax on that capacity less the abatement set, between 10 % and 80 % depending on the length of the opening period; and include the tax in your VAT base.
  9. Pay the amount collected or the flat-rate amount to the local public accountant on the dates set by the municipal council or the deliberative body, once or several times a year.
  10. Check whether your town hall or inter-municipal authority publishes the declaration forms online, or allows online filing — this is notably the case in Paris.
  11. Do NOT confuse this declaration with the compulsory declaration to the town hall, before the letting starts, that individuals letting all or part of their own home must make: they are two separate obligations.

The form, line by line

Taxable person
Under the actual regime, the person not domiciled in the municipality or the inter-municipal territory who stays in commercial accommodation. Under the flat-rate regime, the host, hotelier or owner who accommodates passing guests for consideration.
Accommodation capacity
The basis of the flat-rate tax: the number of people the establishment can accommodate, irrespective of the actual number of people accommodated.
Abatement of 10 % to 80 %
Applied to the accommodation capacity for the flat-rate tax. It depends on the length of the establishment's opening period.
Statement on the invoice
Compulsory under the actual regime, and separate from the room price — the tax is not included in that price. Not compulsory under the flat-rate regime; where the tax is passed on in the price of the accommodation, the host may use the wording "flat-rate tourist tax included".
VAT base
Under the actual regime the tax is NOT included, the host being merely a collector who must show it on the invoice to the customer. Under the flat-rate regime it IS included, the tax being built into the selling price.
Flat-rate declaration
Sent to the town hall at the latest 1 month before the collection period: nature of the accommodation, opening or letting period, accommodation capacity used as the basis for the computation.
Late-payment interest
Any delay in payment gives rise to late-payment interest of 0.20 % per month of delay.

Good to know

  • The municipal council or deliberative body may NOT exempt a type or category of paid accommodation: exemptions are exhaustively defined and attach to the person accommodated, not to the type of accommodation.
  • The tax must be collected by the host before the departure of the people accommodated, even where deferred payment of the rent has been accepted — the payment of the stay and the collection of the tax do not follow the same calendar.
  • The departmental council may, by decision, introduce an additional tax of 10 % on the tourist tax collected in the department; it is collected on the same criteria and paid over by the municipality to the department.
  • In Île-de-France, an additional tax of 200 % is added to the tourist tax rate, and other additional regional or departmental taxes may apply depending on the municipality.
  • The rate must be displayed at the town hall AND at the host's premises or at those of the intermediary responsible for collecting the tax, for example an estate agency.
  • Floor and ceiling rates are set for each category of accommodation on the basis of the OFFICIAL CLASSIFICATION: unclassified and classified furnished accommodation do not fall under the same scale.
  • Payments of the tax may be made once or several times a year, according to what the local decision provides.
  • Some town halls publish the declaration forms online or allow online filing — this is the case in Paris, which has a dedicated tourist tax unit.
  • The tourist tax declaration is NOT the same as the compulsory declaration to the town hall, before the letting starts, by individuals letting all or part of their own home — except, for furnished tourist accommodation, where it is their main residence, that is a dwelling occupied at least 8 months a year save for professional obligation, health reasons or force majeure.

Common mistakes

  • Applying the tax without checking that a local decision has introduced it: without a decision of the municipal council or the inter-municipal deliberative body, it does not apply.
  • Treating the actual and flat-rate taxes as a single regime: the taxable person, the computation, the statement on the invoice and the VAT treatment differ on all four points.
  • Including the actual tax in the VAT base: it does not enter it, the host being only a collector. Conversely, forgetting to include the flat-rate tax in that base, where it does belong.
  • Including the actual tax in the room price: the statement on the invoice is compulsory and must be separate from the price.
  • Collecting the tax when the rent is paid where deferred payment has been accepted: it must be collected before the DEPARTURE of the people accommodated.
  • Computing the flat-rate tax on the actual number of people accommodated: it is independent of that number and assessed on the accommodation capacity.
  • Forgetting the abatement of 10 % to 80 % based on the length of the opening period when computing the flat-rate tax.
  • Filing the flat-rate declaration at the start of the season: it must be sent at the latest 1 month BEFORE the collection period.
  • Exempting a type of accommodation: only the people accommodated may be exempted, in the four cases provided, and never a type or category of paid accommodation.
  • Forgetting to display the rate at the host's premises or at those of the intermediary collecting the tax.
  • Ignoring the additional taxes — 10 % departmental, 200 % in Île-de-France — and keeping only the municipal rate.
  • Confusing the tourist tax declaration with the town hall declaration of furnished tourist accommodation: they are two separate obligations, covering neither the same people nor the same deadlines.

Frequently asked questions

Who pays the tourist tax, the customer or the host?

It depends on the regime chosen by the municipality. Under the actual regime, the taxable person is the individual not domiciled in the municipality or the inter-municipal territory who stays in commercial accommodation: the host collects it. Under the flat-rate regime, the taxable person is the host, hotelier or owner who accommodates passing guests for consideration, and who recovers it from their customers.

Which accommodation is taxed?

Guest rooms, open-air accommodation (campsites, caravan sites, motorhome areas and tourist parking areas), tourist hotels, furnished tourist accommodation, palaces, marinas, tourist residences and holiday villages. The tax must also have been introduced by a decision of the municipal council or of the inter-municipal deliberative body.

How is the flat-rate tax computed?

It is independent of the actual number of people accommodated. It is assessed on the accommodation capacity — the number of people the establishment can accommodate — to which an abatement of between 10 % and 80 % is applied, depending on the length of the establishment's opening period.

Does the tourist tax enter the VAT base?

Under the actual regime, no: it is not included in the VAT base, because the host is a collector of the tax and must show it on the invoice to the customer. Under the flat-rate regime, yes: it is included in the host's VAT base, because the tax is built into the selling price.

Who is exempt?

Under the actual tax: people under 18, holders of a seasonal employment contract employed in the municipality, beneficiaries of emergency accommodation or temporary rehousing, and people occupying premises whose rent is below an amount set by the municipal council.

How can the applicable rate be found?

Rates are set by local decision before the start of the collection period, between a floor rate and a ceiling rate specific to each category of accommodation, on the basis of the official classification. An online service gives the rate by municipality together with any additional taxes. In Île-de-France an additional tax of 200 % applies, and the departmental council may introduce an additional tax of 10 %.

What happens if the declaration is missed or payment is late?

The mayor or the president of the inter-municipal authority may start an automatic assessment procedure, after a formal notice. Failing regularisation, a reasoned automatic assessment notice is sent to the defaulting declarant at least 30 days before collection. Any delay in payment gives rise to late-payment interest of 0.20 % per month of delay.

Is this the same as declaring furnished tourist accommodation to the town hall?

No. The tourist tax declaration must not be confused with the compulsory declaration that individuals letting all or part of their own home — guest room, furnished tourist accommodation — must make to their town hall before the letting starts, except, for furnished tourist accommodation, where it is their main residence, that is a dwelling occupied at least 8 months a year save for professional obligation, health reasons or force majeure.

Go further

Compute the related amounts

Understand this form: the related course

Related forms

Official sources

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Guide and document provided for information purposes only; they do not constitute personalised legal or tax advice. Check the recipient organisation's requirements and consult a professional if needed.