Taxe de séjour

A new tax is being introduced - or rather HAS BEEN introduced to the Poitou Charentes region of France called the Taxe de Séjour. Basically, this is a tourist tax.

It is being introduced to encourage tourism in the area - by charging a tax to all tourists that visit. Strange concept. Of course, it is known that the tourists won't actually pay the tax, it will be paid for by the hotel owner, the bed and breakfast owner or the gite owner such as myself.

Every quarter, I need to complete three forms detailing how many people stayed at our house and for how many nights. Each person is then charged a rate for each night they have stayed. This rate depends on the star rating of the accommodation which is obviously not known yet because the haven't and will not get a chance to visit all the accommodations before the tax started (June 2010!!!).

I have written and asked what rate I should be charging but as of yet have not received a reply.

So, next year my rates will be going up to cover this new tax.

Not sure how this will encourage tourists to the area!!

Taking your pets to France

The French-Property.com website has recently updated their article about taking your pets to France. So, if this is something that you are considering then take a read of the article and ensure that all the jabs and documentation is up to date!!

Read the article