Guide to Letting Property in France

3. Business Registration as a Landlord

1. ‘Professional' and 'Non-Professional' Landlord
2. Definition of ‘Landlord of Furnished Accommodation’
3. Local Council Registration/Authorisation

3.1. Professional and Non-Professional Landlord

If you are resident in France and you let residential property you may be required/entitled to register as a business with the regulatory authorities. It will depend on the type of accommodation.

There is no requirement (or entitlement) to register as a business if you let unfurnished accommodation, as the letting of such accommodation is not considered to be 'commercial' (business) income.

The letting of bare** commercial/industrial/office property** (locations d’immeubles nus à usage professionnel) is also considered to be 'civil' not 'commercial' income requiring no business registration.

If you let furnished accommodation the rental income is considered to be fiscally ‘commercial’ and you can register it as a business.

However, the legal and tax status applicable to furnished lettings has always lacked some clarity; whilst the activity is taxed as a 'commercial' activity it is considered to be a 'civil' activity in law.

Hotels need to be considered separately, and do not form part of the guidance on this page.

In fiscal terms, those who let furnished accommodation are either 'professional' or 'non-professional' landlords:

• Loueur en meublé professionnel (LMP)
• Loueur en meublé non professionnel (LMNP)

A professional landlord of furnished accommodation (loueur en meublé professionnel - LMP) is a landlord whose your annual receipts from furnished accommodation exceed €23,000pa, which is also greater (over 50%) than the other income of the fiscal household.

Whether the definition of 'other income' includes pension income is unclear, because although the administrative doctrine states such income is included, in September 2020 in response to a question in the French parliament, the government stated it excludes such income: 'pour l’appréciation de cette dernière condition, il convient de retenir le bénéfice industriel et commercial net annuel dégagé par l’activité de location meublée................, afin d’en permettre la comparaison avec le revenu net du foyer fiscal dans les catégories d’imposition précitées, y compris le bénéfice tiré de la location. En outre, il est fait abstraction des pensions de retraite.' The indications are that practice varies by tax office but if it is going the wrong way for you, you should point out the above statement.

Income from unfurnished lettings is not taken into account in the calculation.

The above response does make it clear that 'receipts' are net, as is also stated in the administrative doctrine: Pour la détermination du seuil de 50 %, Il convient de retenir le bénéfice commercial net annuel dégagé par l'activité de location meublée.

This figure is then compared with the other net income: 'Il doit être comparé avec le revenu net, c’est-à-dire après déduction des charges et abattements, du foyer fiscal dans les catégories d’imposition précitées, y compris le bénéfice tiré de la location.'

The rule operates pro rata in the first year.

Accordingly, if you meet the two criteria given above you are** automatically** considered to be a professional landlord and you must register as a business.

Non-residents would be considered LMP if their rental income from France exceeded €23K and their France taxable income was less than this figure. Income taxed wholly outside of France is not taken into consideration. The adminstrative doctrine states: 'Pour les non-résidents, la prépondérance des recettes s'apprécie en tenant compte de l'ensemble des revenus des contribuables et, plus largement, du foyer fiscal sous réserve que ces revenus soient imposables en France en application de la législation fiscale française et, le cas échéant, des conventions fiscales internationales. Les revenus perçus par les non-résidents imposables uniquement à l'étranger ne sont pas retenus.'

Until recently it was also a requirement in law that to obtain professional status it was necessary to register with the Registre du Commerce et Sociétés (RCS), a task which was often difficult to accomplish due to the civil nature of the activity. It also meant that the landlord was automatically obliged to pay social security contributions.

In 2018 the French Constitutional Court ruled it an illegal requirement that to be an LMP you were also required to registered with the RCS as the letting of furnished accommodation was not considered to be, in a legal sense, a commercial activity.

Nevertheless, although no registration with the RCS is necessary, you are required to obtain a business registration number (Siret) for tax purposes, a task which is carried out by the local commercial court who then pass on your registration to the tax office. This is merely an administrative registration.

Where the property is held through an SCI no obligation to affiliate to the social security system arises.

Where the property is owned by more than one person, if they are not part of the fiscal household each person is assessed for their status on their share of the property and income.

Becoming a professional landlord means that you become subject to the panoply of social security contributions payable by any business owner, so it is by no means a fiscally beneficial status.

Nevertheless, there are some important tax advantages from being a LMP.

These advantages are:

• You can set off losses against the totality of your other earnings, not merely your furnished rental earnings;
• The property is exempt from liability to wealth tax;
• There are potential concessions on capital gains tax, with complete exemption after you have run the business for at least 5 years, although substantial social security contributions often remain payable and it is questionable whether it is more beneficial;
• There are concessions on inheritance tax as the property will be assessed as a business asset.

In relation to those who let a property for short-term furnished lettings (day, month) through on-line platforms such as Airbnb the question of business registration arises. Strictly speaking, where receipts exceed €23,000pa they are required to register as a business, but in response to a parliamentary question the government have stated that where the property is managed via an estate agent this is not necessary. The reasoning is that the agent will be subject to social security contributions through the fees they charge.

In their reply they state:

Cette exclusion s'entend au sens strict et ne s'étend pas aux mandats que peuvent obtenir des plateformes numériques pour recouvrer l'ensemble des cotisations à partir des transactions effectuées par leur intermédiaire. Les revenus tirés d'une mise en location par le biais d'une agence
professionnelle bénéficiaire d'un mandat de gestion relèvent toutefois de la gestion du patrimoine privé et doivent à ce titre être déclarés à l'administration fiscale dans le cadre de la déclaration de revenus afin d'être assujettis aux prélèvements sociaux sur les revenus du capital au taux de 17,2%.

Those who do not meet the tests set out above are considered to be a non-professional landlord - loueur en meublé non professionnel (LMNP).

Strictly speaking, it is not possible to adopt micro-entrepreneur' (or other business) status as an LMNP for gite accommodation under €23K receipts, but it is certainly true to say that thousands of expatriates have been able to become business registered for such lettings without difficulty. We consider the issue in our article Microentrepreneur Landlords and Gite Rentals.

They best option for such landlords, if you wish to become business registered, is do so on the basis that your are offering additional services to your guests, which means you are not an LMNP, but have the status of 'para-hôtelier'. However, that does have potential VAT implications, which we say more about in Furnished Lettings and VAT.

It should also be noted that even though you may not be a professional landlord, and whether you establish yourself as a micro-entrepreneur, you are required to obtain a business registration number (Siret) by declaring your activity with the commercial court - Greffe du Tribunal de Commerce. This does not mean you are also registered with the *Registre du Commerce et Sociétés (RCS) *. It is merely for administrative (taxation) purposes, including the payment of business rates (unless otherwise exempt). The registration need to be done on-line. Since Nov 2022, this can only be done through a new registration website at 'INPI', which we discussed in our France Insider article at Business Registration in France.

Those who run a chambre d’hôte as their main professional activity are required to register it as a business.

Chambre d'hôte owners are also required to pay social security contributions if their net profit exceeds €6,027 per annum (2024). This figure is equivalent 13 % of a notional figure called the plafond annuel de la sécurité sociale for 2024 (13% of €46,368), revised each year.

You social security contributions will depend on the type of accommodation and the nature of your business registration, if any, which we set out in later pages.

One advantage of business registration is that it grants you automatic access into the health system, useful if you are an early retiree not otherwise able to obtain health cover through the state system.

We set out the visa requirements and process for those seeking to run a gite or chambre d'hote in our news article Visas for Running a Gite.

If you seek registration as a landlord we can in most cases undertake the process of registration for you for a modest charge. You can contact us at Landlord Business Registration.

If you let both unfurnished and furnished accommodation, then each will be considered separately for tax and business registration purposes.

We say more about this in the next section on the Taxation of Rental Profits.

3.2. Definition of ‘Landlord of Furnished Accommodation’

There is a particular definition of a ‘landlord of furnished accommodation’ that is used by the tax authorities.

Most importantly, the definition requires that only a minimum level of services must be provided, over and above the basic letting of the property.

In particular, if the landlord provides at least three of the following services they cease to be a landlord of furnished accommodation, and instead become a business with hotel business status - para-hotelier:

• Provision of breakfast;
• Regular cleaning of the property;
• Provision of linen;
• Welcoming of guests (even by someone other than owner);

However, as is often the case in France, the general rule often has exceptions, and it is no less the case here.

In particular, where the services are provided on an ‘ancillary/optional’ basis to the main letting, then the owner retains the status of landlord of furnished accommodation.

**'Meublés de tourisme' ** are defined by l’article L. 324-1-1 du code du tourisme as « des villas, appartement ou studios meublés, à l’usage exclusif du locataire, offerts à la location à une clientèle de passage qui n’y élit pas domicile et qui y effectue un séjour caractérisé par une
location à la journée, à la semaine ou au mois ».

They may be classed or unclassed.

Long-term furnished lettings and renting of rooms in your home are not considered to be meublés de tourisme'.

If you let your principal home for more than 120 days (4 months) a year it ceases to be considered your principal residence. You must use the property for at least 8 months a year for it to be considered your principal residence.

3.3. Local Council Registration/Authorisation

Beyond business registration there are also separate registration procedures with the local council for the short-term letting of furnished accommodation (location de meublés de tourisme), which apply to all landlords of this type of accommodation. You can do so at Déclarer un hébergement de tourisme.

Within major urban areas (population greater than 200,000) more stringent registration procedures apply with the local council for letting furnished accommodation on a short-term basis.

In these areas you may be required to obtain change of use authorisation; if you let your own furnished home (résidence principale) for more than 120 days a year a change of use authorisation is also required. These controls are in place to limit activities by Airbnb and similar platforms, who are bound by reporting procedures.

You can read more at Permits for Letting Furnished Property in France.

Next: Taxation of Rental Profits

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