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Para-hôtellerie, explained simply
Two conditions, four services, a 10% VAT rate. Para-hôtellerie is not a status you apply for or a box you tick: it applies as soon as what you offer meets the tests. This page explains those tests, what the regime changes for an owner in Megève, and what happens to a price of €1,000 a week.
Ascent Megève offers one para-hôtelier management contract, the Standard contract, on an exclusive mandate, alongside the mixed mandate for owners who do not fall under this regime. This page explains the regime itself, not the contract — and it does not replace your accountant.
What para-hôtellerie actually is
Letting a furnished property is VAT-exempt as a rule. French tax law makes one exception: when the let comes with services that make it look like a hotel, it becomes a commercial activity subject to VAT. That is para-hôtellerie — the word is not a legal status, it describes a tax situation.
The duration test
What you offer is stays of 30 nights or less. It does not matter if a guest ends up staying longer: it is the commercial offer that counts.
The services test
You offer at least three of four services: breakfast, regular cleaning, linen, and guest reception.
Tick what you actually offer
Two conditions have to be met at the same time: you offer stays of 30 nights or less, and you offer at least three of the four services below. What counts is that you offer them, not whether the guest uses them.
The four services, as the tax authority defines them
Breakfast
Offered to every guest, in the property or in a common area, to normal trade standards. Recommending a bakery is not enough: it has to be something you actually supply.
Regular cleaning
The property is cleaned before arrival and regularly during the stay. Weekly is enough; for a stay under a week, the arrival clean is enough. Leaving a vacuum cleaner does not count.
Linen
Bed and bathroom linen supplied on arrival and changed regularly. Weekly is enough; for a short stay, the initial supply is enough. Pointing guests to a laundrette does not count.
Guest reception
Welcoming guests, handing over keys, explaining access and how the property works. Reception can be in person, electronic, or both, and does not have to be personalised. A key box on its own does not count.
Source: French tax authority guidance, BOI-TVA-CHAMP-10-10-50-20, updated 26 March 2025.
What changes against an ordinary furnished let
| Ordinary furnished letting | Para-hôtellerie | |
|---|---|---|
| VAT on the rent | Exempt: no VAT charged | 10% on the accommodation, paid over |
| VAT on what you spend | Not recoverable | Recoverable (works, furniture, fees) |
| Nature of the activity | Civil, furnished letting income (BIC) | Commercial, BIC |
| Bookkeeping | Micro or actual basis, simple | Usually full accounts: balance sheet, VAT returns |
| Social contributions | Above €23,000 of short-stay receipts | Commercial activity: contributions on the profit |
| CFE (local business tax) | Due in most cases | Due |
| Price shown to the guest | A net price, no VAT | A VAT-inclusive price |
| Workload | Low | Real: services to provide and to evidence |
€1,000 a week, broken down
A price advertised at €1,000 a week is a VAT-inclusive price. At the 10% rate that applies to accommodation, it splits into €909.09 for you and €90.91 of VAT paid over to the tax office. You have not lost €100: you only ever received €909.09 — unless you raise the advertised price to €1,100, in which case the guest carries the VAT.
€1,000 a week: who gets what
The price a guest sees includes VAT. Under the para-hôtellerie regime it contains 10% VAT on the accommodation, which you pay over to the French tax office. Change the price and the number of weeks to see what that looks like across a season.
- Yours, excl. VAT
- 10% VAT paid over
- Collected incl. VAT
The guest pays the advertised price. You only ever keep the excl.-VAT part: the VAT is not yours, it simply passes through your account.
- Yours, excl. VAT
- 10% VAT paid over
- Collected incl. VAT
Accommodation at the reduced 10% rate (French tax code, art. 279). Cleaning, tourist tax and separately billed services follow their own rules: ask your accountant for the split.
Charge it, deduct it, or stay under the threshold
What you collect
10% on the accommodation. The VAT is inside the price the guest pays, then declared and paid over on the schedule that applies to you.
What you deduct
VAT on what you spend on the activity: works, furniture, equipment, professional fees. That is the main attraction of the regime, especially during a heavy renovation.
The registration threshold
Under €85,000 of annual receipts (with tolerance up to €93,500) you can stay outside VAT: none charged, none recovered. Those thresholds still apply in 2026 — the single €25,000 threshold announced in early 2025 was dropped.
Being within the scope of VAT and charging it are therefore two different things. Plenty of owners meet the para-hôtellerie tests and never charge VAT, simply because they stay under the threshold.
Still BIC income, but not in the same box
Either way your income is taxed as industrial and commercial profits (BIC). What changes is the nature of the activity — civil on one side, commercial on the other — and, in practice, the accounting that goes with it.
Furnished tourist let
Since the law of 19 November 2024 the simplified regime is tighter: a 50% allowance up to €77,700 for a classified property, 30% up to €15,000 for an unclassified one. Above that, actual-basis accounting.
Para-hôtellerie
A commercial BIC activity, usually on the actual basis: costs deducted, building and furniture depreciated, full accounts. Which thresholds and allowances apply depends on exactly what you offer: confirm it with your accountant.
Sources: service-public.fr (tourist accommodation and micro-enterprise, 2025 income); French law no. 2024-1039 of 19 November 2024.
What else lands
Social contributions
Once short-stay receipts pass €23,000 a year, you must register — either under the general scheme by election, or as a self-employed person. Under para-hôtellerie, the activity being commercial, contributions are charged on the profit.
CFE
The local business property tax is due in most cases, for ordinary furnished lets as well as para-hôtellerie. The amount depends on the commune.
Tourist tax
Collected from the guest and paid to the commune. It is neither income nor turnover, and it does not change with the regime.
Source: Urssaf and service-public.fr, thresholds applying to 2025 income.
What the regime really asks of you
- Provide the services, on every stay, and be able to prove it: invoices, cleaning schedules, linen records, evidence of reception.
- Invoice VAT-inclusive, showing the rate, and file VAT returns.
- Keep commercial accounts, usually with an accountant.
- Watch the thresholds: VAT registration, social contributions, simplified or actual basis.
- Keep the paperwork: in an audit, it is for you to show the services were genuinely on offer.
Who it suits — and who it does not
It can make sense if…
You are carrying out major works and the recoverable VAT is significant; your property turns over heavily by the week; you already run it like a small business and accept the obligations that come with it.
It makes no sense if…
You let a few weeks a year; you let by the season over several months; you do not want to serve breakfast or keep commercial accounts. An ordinary furnished let stays the simple route.
You just want your chalet to work
We handle seasonal and short-stay letting in Megève: listings, guests, cleaning, linen, maintenance, income paid every month. Let’s talk about your property.
What owners ask us
Can you end up in this regime without meaning to?
Yes. The tests are objective: if you offer stays of 30 nights or less and at least three of the four services, the regime applies whether you chose it or not. What matters is that the services are on offer, not whether guests use them.
Does the end-of-stay clean paid by the guest count?
The test is about cleaning before arrival and then regularly during the stay: weekly is enough, and for a stay under a week the arrival clean is enough. A clean carried out only after the guest leaves does not meet it.
Is a key box enough to count as reception?
No. Handing over keys with no other form of welcome is not enough. Reception can, however, be electronic and impersonal: remote handling with access and house information is accepted.
Can breakfast be supplied by someone else?
What matters is that it is part of what you offer and genuinely available to the guest, to normal trade standards. Recommending the village bakery is not enough.
Do you charge VAT from the first euro?
No. While your receipts stay under the registration threshold — €85,000, with tolerance up to €93,500 — you charge no VAT. In exchange, you recover none on what you spend.
Can you recover VAT on works or furniture?
That is the main attraction of the regime: once registered, you deduct VAT on what you spend on the activity. Be careful, though — leaving the regime in the following years can mean paying part of that VAT back. Have your accountant work it through before you commit to the works.
Does it change the tourist tax?
No. The tourist tax is collected from the guest and paid to the commune. It is neither income nor turnover, whatever your regime.
What if I let for a whole season, over several months?
If what you offer is stays longer than 30 nights, you are outside the regime: the let stays VAT-exempt and para-hôtellerie does not apply, even if you provide linen or cleaning.
Does Ascent Megève offer a para-hôtelier contract?
No. We manage your property for seasonal and short stays, and we do not sell a para-hôtelier contract. This page is here to explain the regime, not to move you into it. If your plan depends on it, your accountant is the right person to confirm it.
Sources: French tax code, art. 261 D, 4° and art. 279; tax authority guidance BOI-TVA-CHAMP-10-10-50-20 (26 March 2025); service-public.fr, tourist accommodation and micro-enterprise; Urssaf; 2026 VAT registration thresholds.