In France, ‘para-hôtellerie’ suggests a service first: the care of a fine hotel, brought to a private house. It is also a tax rule, with four services of which the law requires at least three, VAT at 10% and, for a new or renovated villa, VAT that can be recovered under conditions. Here is what the texts say on 3 October 2026, with their sources. If you live outside France, the section ‘If you live outside France’ is the one to read closely. Most of the official pages linked below are in French.
Is a holiday let in France subject to VAT?
In principle, no. The letting of a furnished villa is exempt from VAT (TVA in French), and the owner cannot choose to charge it: the French tax authority describes an exemption with no option to be taxed instead (BOFiP, the authority’s published guidance). The wording can mislead: a landlord can be within the scope of VAT and still be exempt from it. The question is whether VAT must be charged (impots.gouv.fr).
Para-hôtellerie is the exception, and it applies automatically. No one opts into it: as soon as the conditions are met, the letting comes within the scope of VAT, whether or not the owner wanted it; only the threshold described below can spare the owner from charging it. The idea is simple: a stay that comes with the services of a hotel is treated like a hotel stay. For what French law means by a furnished holiday let in the first place, see our guide to renting out your villa in France.
Which services count as hotel-style services?
Two conditions apply together. The furnished villa is offered for stays that can last 30 nights or fewer, at the guest’s choice. And it comes with at least three of the four following services: breakfast, regular cleaning, household linen and a reception for guests (BOFiP). A villa let only by the quarter does not fall into this category.
The law requires at least three of the four services, not all four, though the idea that the State requires all four is still widespread. That was the rule until 2002; since 1 January 2003, three are enough (Légifrance, text until 2002; text since 2003).
The tax authority adds two clarifications:
- Offered, not necessarily taken. Services can be included in the price or sold as options, and the guest is not obliged to use them. They must genuinely be offered, and it must be possible to prove it: signage, a welcome booklet, messages exchanged, a mention on the owner’s website.
- In the owner’s name. A service counts when it is offered by the owner, directly or through an agent acting in the owner’s name and on the owner’s behalf. A service sold to the guest by another company, in its own name, does not count for the owner.
The test for each service, according to the BOFiP:
- Breakfast counts if it is sold by the host, even when a third party prepares it. Recommending good addresses or installing a vending machine is not enough. A delay between the order and the delivery is accepted, as long as it does not empty the offer of its meaning.
- Cleaning is carried out before arrival and offered regularly during the stay: one offer a week is enough. Leaving cleaning equipment for the guest does not count.
- Linen, for the bed and the bathroom, is provided on arrival and its renewal is offered: one offer a week is enough. A launderette alone does not count.
- Reception welcomes the guest, shows the way and gives information. It need not be permanent, nor carried out by a person. A key box alone, with no in-person welcome offered as an alternative, does not count for the authority.
What the Conseil d’État changed
On 12 November 2025, the Conseil d’État, France’s highest administrative court, struck down two sentences of the 2024 BOFiP. They treated housekeeping and linen done only before arrival as enough for a stay of under a week. In the court’s view, housekeeping done beforehand may be enough for a short stay, but not automatically.
The version of the BOFiP published in 2025 keeps a similar allowance, for stays of five nights or fewer. It is still online; the decision makes it fragile. The prudent course is therefore to genuinely offer, during the stay, housekeeping and a change of linen.
On reception, the decision is more nuanced. That a key box alone is not enough is the authority’s position, not the court’s. The court recalls that reception need not be provided by a person, and accepts the example of a choice between a welcome in person and a key box.
What is the VAT rate on a hotel-style let?
The rate is 10% on the price of the stay (BOFiP). The price becomes a price including VAT: on a stay shown at €1,100, €100 is VAT. Services sold as options may carry their own rate: for the authority, the fact that a service is optional points to a transaction separate from the accommodation.
The threshold: who charges VAT, and from when
An owner established in France does not charge VAT as long as their receipts, excluding VAT, do not exceed €85,000 in the previous year and €93,500 in the current year. The ceiling is assessed per owner, not villa by villa (BOFiP, Service-Public). A single threshold of €25,000, considered for a time, was abandoned.
The threshold has a counterpart: under it, no VAT can be recovered, on the purchase or on the works. To recover VAT, the owner has to give up the threshold by opting for VAT, a choice that binds for two years (Service-Public).
If you live outside France
The threshold is reserved for owners established in France. The BOFiP treats an owner as established in France if the seat of their economic activity is there or, failing that, if their home or habitual residence is. An owner whose business is based outside the EU can also be attached to France, if they have a permanent establishment there and choose to be (BOFiP). Where you live therefore matters:
- In another EU country (Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany…), you can claim the threshold on particular conditions: no more than €100,000 of turnover across the whole EU, a prior notification in your own country, and the French thresholds respected (Service-Public).
- Outside the EU, in the United Kingdom or Switzerland for example, the texts provide in principle for no threshold. VAT on a para-hôtellerie villa would then be due from the first euro, with, depending on the case, a tax representative in France.
The texts do not say clearly where a private individual who does nothing more than let a villa in France is ‘established’, nor whether a let villa counts as a permanent establishment. This is our reading of the texts, to be confirmed by a professional before any decision, and before you buy if a purchase is in view.
Recovering VAT on a new-build villa
A villa is ‘new’ for five years after completion: a new build, or a renovation that returns it to new condition. Bought from a professional within those five years, its price includes VAT at the standard rate of 20% (BOFiP, BOFiP). Bought from a private individual, a villa does not, as a rule, carry any VAT: there is nothing to recover on the purchase.
This VAT can be deducted if the villa falls under para-hôtellerie and its owner has given up the threshold. As nothing can be deducted under the threshold, the question of opting for VAT comes before the purchase. For a purchase off plan (in French, en l’état futur d’achèvement, or VEFA), VAT falls due with each instalment set by the contract: it is therefore deducted as the instalments are paid.
For a large purchase, there is the rescrit: the tax authority gives its position in writing on a specific situation. It replies within three months to a written, precise and complete request (impots.gouv.fr).
Major renovation: VAT on the works
VAT on works, furniture and the other costs of the activity is deductible on the same conditions: a para-hôtellerie villa, and an owner outside the threshold. But the rates hold a trap. The 10% rate for works does not apply to accommodation whose letting is not exempt, such as a hotel, even under the threshold (BOFiP). A para-hôtellerie villa therefore pays 20% for its works, where an exempt furnished let may pay 10%, with exceptions such as an extension of more than 10% of the floor area.
A heavy renovation can also return the villa to new condition. This is the case when the works rebuild the majority of the foundations, of the structure or of the façades, or two thirds of each of the six finishing elements: non-load-bearing floors, external windows and doors, partitions, plumbing and sanitary fittings, electrics and heating (BOFiP). The villa is then new for five years, and its works fall under the standard rate. But such a renovation creates no VAT to recover on the old purchase price: bought from a private individual, the villa carried none.
What are the pitfalls of the para-hôtellerie regime?
The main one comes down to a single figure: 20 years. VAT deducted on a villa is monitored for 20 years, and on its furniture for five (BOFiP). If the situation changes before then, the owner repays in one go the share that corresponds to the remaining years. Stopping after ten years, for instance, means repaying roughly half of the VAT recovered on the villa.
Four events trigger the repayment (BOFiP):
- the services stop or the activity ends: the villa becomes exempt again;
- the owner goes back under the threshold, because receipts fall below the ceiling without an option, or because the option is cancelled;
- the villa is taken back for purely private use;
- the villa is sold more than five years after completion, without the sale being subject to VAT.
The weeks the owner keeps for personal use reduce the deductible share, and above 90% private use nothing is deductible (BOFiP). A sale within five years of completion is subject to VAT as of right, which avoids the repayment; after that, the seller may choose to subject it to VAT (BOFiP).
And what about income tax?
VAT and income tax are two independent regimes (impots.gouv.fr). For income tax, the authority considers that a para-hôtellerie activity is not furnished letting (BOFiP). The rules for furnished landlords, known in France as LMNP and LMP, may then no longer apply, with possible effects on losses and on the capital gain when you sell. The test is not quite the same as for VAT. These cases remain uncertain and depend on each situation. The rules of ordinary furnished letting are set out in our article on the star rating. If you live abroad, what you owe at home is another question again: our guide to renting out your villa in France lists the official starting points, for UK residents among others.
The 2027 finance bill, tabled on 1 October 2026 and not yet passed, plans to cap the depreciation allowance on furnished lets carried on non-professionally, with a lower cap for tourist furnished lets (National Assembly). It remains to be seen whether the cap would also apply to a para-hôtellerie villa.
Before you sign: six questions to ask
- Which services will be offered, in whose name, and how will you prove it?
- What receipts should you expect, measured against the threshold?
- Where do you live?
- How many weeks will you keep for yourself?
- Will you keep the villa for 20 years? If you sell, will it be within five years of completion, or after?
- Is a rescrit worth requesting?
Your accountant, or a tax lawyer, is the right person to ask, because every situation is different. If you live abroad, look for an adviser who knows the position of non-resident owners.
What we do for your villa
Mademoiselle Conciergerie is an estate agency holding the professional card for both property transactions and property management. We act under a management agreement, in the owner’s name and on the owner’s behalf.
With us, every guest is welcomed in person at the villa, never through a key box, and the linen is of hotel quality. Housekeeping and a change of linen can be arranged during a stay: it is an option in every villa, and included in the price of some. Breakfast can be ordered as an option, at least two working days ahead: brunch, pastries…
The owner always issues the invoice for the accommodation itself. When the villa falls under para-hôtellerie, the owner also invoices housekeeping, laundry and breakfasts, and we invoice the owner for those services, carried out on the owner’s behalf.
We provide, in the owner’s name, the services that para-hôtellerie requires, prepare the owner’s invoices and accounts showing VAT, and work with the owner’s accountant. We do not give tax advice: the returns and the tax choices remain the owner’s.
We have already worked with owners buying a new-build or off-plan villa, or renovating one extensively: their accountant studies the tax position, and we provide the services and prepare the paperwork. For the rest of how we manage a villa, see hotel-standard villa management.
Join our collection
Each villa in our collection, in the Languedoc, in the South of France, is chosen one by one.
In Agde, Béziers and Sérignan, our work is described on a page for each commune: Agde, Béziers and Sérignan. The other steps an owner takes are set out in our guide to renting out your villa in France.
If your villa shares these standards, you are welcome to join our collection. Every application is considered personally; we then visit the villa with you, on site, with nothing for you to prepare. Our frequently asked questions answer the first queries, and you can write to us at any time; the next ones we are glad to answer in person.
Information checked on 3 October 2026. The articles of the French tax code that deal with VAT are renumbered on 1 January 2027; in principle, the rules stay the same. This article informs and is no substitute for personal advice.
