How to Run a Gîte in France: Visas and Legal Procedures

Before you do anything else, head for your local Mairie. Apart from being polite and taking the opportunity to introduce yourself, the Maire has the right to refuse your gîte if the level of the tourism in the area can’t support another one. This is particularly important if the income from your gîte forms a significant percentage of your annual revenue.

Assuming the Mairie says yes, there’s also a declaration to be filled in. This has nothing to do with tax and is just an administrative document that asks for details of your gîte, including how many it can accommodate, what periods of the year it will be available and your contact details. It will also ask whether the gîte has been officially classified. (This is not obligatory but can have tax advantages if you set up as a business.)

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.

Another tip that you probably won’t find online concerns the type of visa you initially apply for. Here at French Connections HCB, we work closely with our avocat partner Louis Varaut who tells us that many clients go through the pain and hassle of applying for a costly work visa and making a business plan, when in fact the majority of people don’t actually have their gîte business up and running during the first year. That’s because they are too busy renovating, equipping their own home or their gîte and generally settling into their new life in France.            If you know you have renovation and decorating work to do and want to take some of the pressure and expense out of the visa process, think about applying for a simple one year (long stay) visa instead.  At the end of that year, you can apply for residency (titre de séjour) which automatically allows you to work – and you can do it all from here in France.

If this is starting to sound complicated, don’t be put off. Our friendly team here at French Connections HCB is always on hand to help.