Once you have the go-ahead from your Mairie, you’ll need to determine your tax responsibilities and officially register your gîte.  There are two types of registration, professional and non-professional. The most important thing to understand is that any rental income that your gîte generates is taxable here in France, whether or not you are a permanent resident.

Let’s take a closer look at the professional and non-professional options.

If the gîte is not your primary income source and you work elsewhere or have your own separate business, it counts as non-professional.  To qualify, it must bring in an annual revenue of less than 23,000 euros. To register as a ‘Loueur Meublé Non Professionnel’ you will need to provide a copy of your passport as well as proof of ownership such as the deeds to the property (called the ‘titre de propriété’) which the Notaire who handled the purchase of the property will give to you. No proof of French residency is required for non-professional registration, but you will need to declare the annual revenue on your French income tax return.

If you are running the gîte as a full-time business, all year round, it counts as your professional and principal activity. Normally this would imply an income of more than 26,000 euros. You will need to hold either a titre de séjour or business visa to be eligible to register with the Chambre de Commerce et de l’Industrie. According to government regulations, your activity must be officially registered within two weeks of opening.

The simplest business option is to become a micro-entrepreneur or start an ‘entreprise individuelle au réel simplifié’.  But although people always think of these two options as the easiest and cheapest ways of setting up your gîte business, it’s worth taking a closer look at the figures.  Neither of those options entitle you to any tax relief on the money you have outlaid, such as building work, decoration, furnishings and advertising. The harsh reality is that you will pay 22% social security charges to the French government on all rental income, plus up to 20% service fee if you list your gîte with popular operators like booking.com.  If you think your gîte is likely to become successful, it’s worth considering setting up the French equivalent of a limited company, which enables you to claim tax benefits on setting up and ongoing running costs.

Don’t think you have to know everything right from the start. For example, if you start off by registering your gîte as a ‘meublé non professionnel’ and then find that business is booming and it’s bringing in more than 23,000 euros a year, you can easily change your status to ‘loueur meublé professionel’. All it takes is an accountant.