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Change in Taxe de Sejour for this coming year


spj
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Apologies if this topic has already been covered, but I couldn't see any mention elsewhere so I'm copying wholesale a posting I put on another forum for gite owners, in case anyone has missed this and the implications for us and our guests:

Finally been to the tourist office and had a very useful meeting. I'm fortunate in that I already have all my bookings for next year and so can do real calculations on the impact for our business. At the moment we are not classified and we do not charge our (GB) guests an additional amount for their TdS.

This year we have paid 56.80 euros for 142 tourist nights (0.40 € tax)

Next year, our tourist nights will be 161. If we remain unclassified we will have to use the complex formula (3% of daily rate x number of nights x number of adults) and our TdS will increase to 192.78 €.

If we go for classification we would not aim for a high star rating and would not advertise it to our guests (no point, we have 5 star reviews on Homeaway). If we go for a 2 star classification the flat rate would increase to 0.70€ so we would pay 112.70 €

However, to be classified for five years we would have to pay 200 euros up front. Worth it if we are certain we will still be doing at least this level of business over the next 5 years, but we may not be (both in our 70s already).

So we've decided. We will continue to be unclassified. We already have all our guests for next year booked. We cannot now ask them to pay an additional amount for TdS, so we will continue to do as we've done up to now and pay it. From 2020 onwards however we will add it to our terms and conditions and our booking forms and have it displayed on our website and we will expect our guests to pay it. We will also warn our guests coming in 2019 what the implications are with the change. For example, we have one set of high season returners whose TdS will be 53.09 euros for this coming year. Up until now their TdS would have been 11.20 € (which is why we've always been happy to pay it). If we were to have a 2 star classification they would only be paying 19.60 €.

I think this shows pretty clearly that anyone who is younger / building their business and expecting to be around for the long term, it clearly makes sense to go for classification (but maybe not too high a one!) and remain with a flat rate TdS. It's much cheaper for your high season guests and it is much easier for you to calculate.

Some additional info that came out of our discussion:

As I quote my prices in £ for the UK market and the TdS is paid in euros, I asked her what exchange rate to apply. It had never occured to her. So I suggested I would take the rate our accountant uses for our tax returns and she was happy with that. I think this is a level of detail they are not that interested in.

There is no concern at all (at least in our region) WHO pays the TdS. She was completely relaxed about the fact that I've paid it in the past and not my guests and will continue to do so this coming year. She says I'm not alone in this.

She tells me HomeAway will also probably be implementing collecting TdS at source, but they have not yet confirmed and it may be January 1st (!) or more likely July 1st.

Our tourist office have yet to see any money from ABnB because it's been such a shambles. It is likely that the large groups will hold on to the TdS money for as long as possible (surprise, surprise) and whilst eventually it will be to the benefit of the tourist offices there's going to be a large gap in their finances short term.

Excuse the long posting, but for those of you looking at the implications of the change I thought it might be helpful, especially as I'm dealing with real future bookings rather than just the theory.
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I'm not in this line of business so apologies if my comments are irrelevant, but first reaction is:

"As I quote my prices in £ for the UK market and the TdS is paid in euros, I asked her what exchange rate to apply. It had never occured to her. So I suggested I would take the rate our accountant uses for our tax returns and she was happy with that. I think this is a level of detail they are not that interested in. "

- why would they be interested? It's your business how you collect it, all they are interested in is receiving the correct amount.

Why not inform guests what the tds is in euros, and ask them to pay it in euros at the end of their stay. Unless they stay for months on end, it's going to be peanuts, less than the cost of one meal out. If you get the odd awkward customer who insists on paying by UK cheque, it's easy enough to use the exchange rate for that day.

I think you are making unnecessary complications for yourself by getting the exchange rate involved in tds.

Am I right in thinking that in any case tds has to be itemised separately on the invoice? It invariably is, when I stay at campsites.
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Thank you for your observation Eurotrash. This has nothing to do with what I do or do not ask my guests to do, but what I have to declare to the tourist office at the end of every month re number of guests, number of nights etc and this from now onwards will also be a calculation based on my rental prices which are in sterling and therefore have to be converted to euros. I think if you are camping next year during high season you may discover you are no longer paying peanuts, especially if your campsite is not classified!
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Sorry, I didn't read your post carefully enough.

I guess it's an inevitable problem of setting prices in a currency that is not the currency of the country where the business is being run.

I still don't see this as a massive burden to tourists though.

"Next year, our tourist nights will be 161. If we remain unclassified we will have to use the complex formula (3% of daily rate x number of nights x number of adults) and our TdS will increase to 192.78 €."

versus

" I think if you are camping next year during high season you may discover you are no longer paying peanuts, especially if your campsite is not classified! "

Well, I'm one adult, typically I pay between 8€ at an unclassified campsite to 18€ per night at a three or four star campsite, so with respect I think to most people, 3% even of 18€ per night would be peanuts. No doubt you charge more, but proportionally I don't think 3% is going to break anyone's budget. I agree with WoolyB, I don't at all begrudge contributing to a commune where I've enjoyed taking advantage of the facilities and attractions they provide - often for free: signposted walks, visitor information centres etc - over and above what I pay to the campsite.
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Apologies Eurotrash, but my post was taken from another forum as I thought it might help people here who run gites who may be facing issues with what happens to their taxe de sejour next year. The first post on that original thread was querying whether their TdS for their guests would go up to 300€. It may be peanuts for you on campsites, but certainly my guests pay enough to fly, hire a car and to stay with me and a further 50+ euros is a considerable additional sum. Not dissimilar to the petrol tax hike it is the sudden, significant increase that is a challenge - to go from 11 euros to 50 from one year to the next.
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