Taxe de Séjour

[The Riff-Raff Element]

We've received a letter from the canton to the effect that "Good News! You are not going to be assessed for taxe de séjour in 2005; Bad News...you will be in 2006, so please fill in the following..."

I've known about the existence taxe de séjour, and the right of the authorities to levy it if they so choose, since we started this business some years ago. I have a dim recollection that the rate used to be 1 FF per head per night, and I had always been advised that it was too costly to administer to be worth collecting. Obviously things have changed. This does not seem to be a national initive though: we have properties in a adjacent canton and have received no such similar from them.

I've politely written back and given them the information that they have asked for, along with a request for some information myself (I like to get things in writing rather than verbally - this is France) like how the taxe will be calculated, what the money will be spent on, that kind of thing.

Anyone else recieved anything similar or have any insights to offer?

[Quillan]

It will often depend on whether the tourist office know about your properties and that you are rented them out. We have paid this ever since we opened our B&B and it is a trivial amount per room for only high season. You are suppose to add it to your bills but like many we have just absorbed it in to our running costs. The money goes to your tourist office on a regional basis.

Personaly I have no problem with this tax although nobody will tell me on what the money is spent on exactly.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

I can hardly believe that they didn't know. Everyone else does - Hotel des Impots, CdC, the departmental head of tourism (he is also a local counciller) and not least our own major who chairs the local tourism board (commitee, whatever). He, at least, never misses a trick when it comes to raising the extra shekel for the commune, even selling rat poison through the Mairie at discount, bulk, never-to-repeated prices. I said I'd buy some only if he took a dose to prove it worked.

We DID try to register with the Tourism Office many moons ago, but they said something along the lines of "well, if you are not with Gites de France or Clévacances we are not interested in knowing about you, so you can just b****r off" and we never went back.

Since we have been here, four B&Bs and two further gites have been established in the commune, and, presumably others in the other communes in this canton. I just suspected that someone had decided that the revenue stream was there to be tapped. If I get a reply from someone in authority, I'll post it.

[Jc]

Normally only charged in tourist areas and then only high season;they don't seem to bother at other times of the year!

[Dinah]

We've just heard that officialdom is getting interested in the letting of properties in our village.  What do we need to do to conform with all the regulations?  We too tried to interest the local Tourist Office, and the Mairie, with the fact that we would occasionally be letting out our property for holidays, but they weren't at all interested; certainly, nobody mentioned a taxe du sejour, even though we live in quite a touristy village.  We both live mainly in the UK and are UK tax payers.  How do we go about declaring our French income in France?

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote]We've just heard that officialdom is getting interested in the letting of properties in our village. What do we need to do to conform with all the regulations? We too tried to interest the local Tou...[/quote]

As far as regulations per se are concerned, you probably will have to do very little. However, what you will need to do is ensure that the income you derive is propertly declared in both the UK and in France on tax returns in both countries. Your UK tax office and local hotel des impots will, I'm sure, be able to give you all the information you require, but I would encourage you to contact them sooner rather than later.

We are French resident, so I'm not 100% with how it works, but I THINK that you will be required to complete a French standard return, plus a supplimentry form 2044 (French forms are really not that scary) and the tax will be levied in France. The UK will need the declaration, but will not levy tax as the rules on duel taxation should apply. I'm sure someone will be kind and correct this if I am talking through my hat.

The fiscs in general seem to have been encouraged to maximise revenue and tighten up on everything, so I think that more official interest in general can be expected. I've heard nothing back in response to my (very polite, I thought) letter to the local lot re. taxe de séjour, mind.

[Owens88]

We were advised that we could avoid paying Taxes Fonciers and pay Taxe Professionale + taxe de sejours instead.

 

Having said that the accountant who advised us alos undertook to write to the impots sorting it out for us (apparently one outcome was to be a siret number !?). I now cannot raise him at all.

John

 

[Miki]

Are you sure it wasn't tax habitation, that is what we have found is the normal choice when we have enquired about tax prof. It can be, pay more tax hab or still pay tax prof, well it has been so, in our cases.

I don't think tax fonc can be knocked on the head can it ?

As for taxe de séjour, that normally comes under different headings all together.

I have to say all the above is how I have found it to be in my experience.

I must say John, you seem to me to be given some strange info. You can get your own siret number by simply going to the one of the chambres and registering whatever you wish to trade as but as I have no idea of your case, I am probably reading it wrongly ?

jond and "(....French forms are really not that scary)" I am afraid that all depends on what or how many "boxes" you need to fill in !! With something like a simple B&B or gites, then yes but add on others in the family at home, differing kind of works at differing tax regimes and......you don't want to know !

[Owens88]

Hi Miki

Yes it probably was taxe d'hab not foncieres. My mistake.

I also thought the siret thing was strange. I suppose the strangeness is compounded by the fact that the guy offered to write a letter to the authorities on our behalf but nothing has happened. I'll call in on him again in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile we are still paying taxe d'hab (a lot of it !)

We really are keen to do things correctly. We only have the one gite and its not going to generate great profits (if at all ).

Thanks

John

 

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote]Are you sure it wasn't tax habitation, that is what we have found is the normal choice when we have enquired about tax prof. It can be, pay more tax hab or still pay tax prof, well it has been so, in ...[/quote]

"I am afraid that all depends on what or how many "boxes" you need to fill in !! With something like a simple B&B or gites, then yes but add on others in the family at home, differing kind of works at differing tax regimes and......you don't want to know !"

Now you may well have a point there! I confess to a (probably unwarrented) phobia towards UK tax forms arising from my first filling one in after returning from working abroad many moons ago. I completely cocked it up (unitentionally) and it landed on the desk of someone less-than-sympathetic towards my ineptitude. As a result I was hauled unceremoniously across hot coals while spikes were poked into me, was told that I would be filling in an annual return until the end of my natural and that I was being watched very closely for my accidental under payment of £150.

As you may appreciate, the annual filing always caused a certain amount of twitching on my part as my tax affairs were not entirely simple. I still treasure the letter I received upon becoming resident in France from the UK authorities acknowleging that I would no longer be required to undergo my yearly trail-by-ordeal.