We have a millhouse converted into our accommodation and 2 gîtes and have been doing this since 2003 so we are aware of most of the rules and regs of running such a business. However, our comcom Creuse grand Sud (Dept 23) has just decided that to bring this area into line with the rest of france, we will have to start charging a taxe de séjour from 2016. This is only €0.80/adult/night but over a 2 week booking with up to 6 adults/gîte this can add up to a significant amount. As we had not budgeted for this or included it in our weekly rates for 2016 we have decided to make this payable by our guests on their departure.
So, just wondering how other gîte owners deal with this - do you include it in your weekly rates?
or do you calculate it when you send a contract out and add it onto the amount payable?
or do you grin and bear it and pay it yourself?
If you do collect from clients, do you give them a written receipt, is it normally in cash (UK, dutch, belge) or cheque (french)?
Anyone know where I can get a receipt book from (duplicate carbon paper type from the stone age)??
We had a meeting early December organised by the Aubusson tourist office. Where are you in the Creuse? It has been imposed on us by our commune of communes, the so called "comcom" and is in the south west of the department. You may be lucky in that it has not been imposed in your area. I am led to believe that this has been implemented to pay for a new, joint tourist office between Aubusson and Felletin - though just why this is needed defies belief IMHO.
We also in the Creuse with gites but haven't received any notification of the new Taxe de sejour charges from 2016, can you tell me who sent you the letter or where you received the information so i can chase it up. Thanks
Thanks for your replies, looks like we are heading in the right direction, collecting from guests towards the end of their stay, giving a receipt and making up a spreadsheet just in case! I have told everyone already booked for 2016 that there will be a small tax, so far everyone has been OK about it, main comment being it will means a couple of bottles of wine less.
One small thing, we have to declare and pay three times/year May, September and January but the bumpf says payment is by cheque. The bank is going to go bonkers when I hand over a bag of coins. I was hoping to do this to the tresorerie!
We have B&B and a gîte in the garden. Taxe de séjour (0,90 euro/person/night) is separate on the invoice. We always make an invoice, even if the stay has been paid in advance. I keep a spreadsheet track of the taxe de séjour (day, room, number of people) and pay it about once every quarter. Taxe de séjour is only for adults >18 years of age, but the tourist office wants to know the number of children too, so they are in a separate column.
Technically it's a tax for the guests to pay, not you.
If you haven't budgeted for it, then as long as you are up-front about it and it is in the booking terms and conditions, you can collect at the end of the stay (or beginning at check-in). This is what 99% of (French) establishments do in France.
We run 5 apartments. We effectively include the tax de séjour in the total price and pay it ourselves.
Same during the winter. As we book accommodation with owners and agencies, we pay the tax de séjour for our clients> Although CGH and MMV insist on collecting it direct from the guests.
We have a gite & 2 B&B rooms (Les Hirondelles, Chabanol, in the Puy de Dome)& have been doing this for nearly 10 years now. We have never charged our guests Taxe de Sejour...we just pay it ourselves. We keep a record all through the year as here there is no paperwork or forms sent out & we pay the full amount in November to the local tax office. Again there is no reminder to pay sent...we just know now when it is due & send a cheque along with the spreadsheet we have kept all year & we never get a receipt! Its a bit of a nuisance but we have nice signs to our place on the road & in the village because of it. We look on it as just one of those quirky French things & grin & bear it :)
We have Le Manoir De St Marcel, - a group consisting of a manoir house & 4 gites.
We have been hit with this iniquitous tax for several years now.
Each year it gets bigger, & then they added extensions for the local mariee payable in addition.
To answer your question: We get the guests to pay it in Euros as they leave. We are very upfront about it, & they are aware of it at the time of booking.
Since we also have bread delivered, the guests invariably have to pay for that as well.
You need to remind them the day before departure, as they tend to run out of Euros.
RANT! - In addition the last 2 years we have had a bill for 1000€ because we are rental accommodation. Don't get anything off our tax de habitation because we are only occupied part of the year.