Airbnb income: what the French tax office treats as taxable
Letting a furnished home, even for a few weeks a year, does not produce property income (revenus fonciers) in France. For tax purposes it is a commercial activity: your Airbnb rent falls under industrial and commercial profits (BIC). That is why it is not declared in the property income section of the main return, but in a dedicated supplementary form, the 2042-C-PRO.
The figure to report is your gross takings for the calendar year: nights and fees charged to guests (cleaning fees, for example), with no deduction for your costs. Under the micro-BIC regime, the tax office then applies a flat-rate allowance intended to cover those expenses. The tourist tax is not income: you collect it on behalf of the Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur, and on Airbnb the platform collects and remits it directly.
A word of caution for Nice owners: before any tax question, your letting must be lawful. Either your main residence let for no more than 120 days a year, or a second home holding a change-of-use authorisation in Nice, and in every case a registration number displayed on the listing. Declaring your income correctly does not regularise an unlawful let.
Keep Airbnb's annual summary of payouts and your bank statements: they are the basis of your return, and the same information now reaches the tax authorities (see the DAC7 section).
Step 1: get a SIRET number through the one-stop shop
Anyone starting a furnished letting activity must register it, even as a non-professional landlord. According to the French tax administration (DGFiP), this is done online on the one-stop shop for business formalities run by INPI (formalites.entreprises.gouv.fr), within 15 days of the first letting. It replaces the old paper P0i form previously used by furnished landlords.
In return you receive a SIRET number. It links you to the relevant business tax office (SIE) and is the basis for the business property contribution (CFE). If you have been letting on Airbnb for years without a SIRET, there is still time to put things right: do it before your next return.
- Deadline: 15 days after the first letting
- Where: the online one-stop shop, furnished letting section
- What you get: a SIRET number and a link to the SIE
- If you opt for the real regime: open a professional account on impots.gouv.fr to file online
Step 2: LMNP or LMP, identify your status
The vast majority of Airbnb owners in Nice are non-professional furnished landlords (LMNP). You only become a professional furnished landlord (LMP) if two conditions are met at the same time: your household's annual furnished letting receipts exceed €23,000 including VAT, and they exceed the household's total other earned income (salaries, other BIC, etc.).
The DGFiP flags a change for 2026 income declared in 2027: to assess the second condition, the tax office will compare your French receipts with all your professional income, including income earned abroad. For the many non-resident owners letting in Nice, this makes LMNP status easier to keep.
Your status mainly changes the box on the return, how losses are treated and the capital gains regime. As an LMP, the tax treatment becomes much more technical: a chartered accountant is then essential.
The €23,000 threshold matters for social security too: according to Urssaf, above that level of receipts a holiday let takes on a professional character and must be registered as such, with social contributions to pay. Talk to an accountant if you are getting close.
Step 3: choose between micro-BIC and the real regime
This is the decision that weighs most on your tax bill. Since the law of 19 November 2024, the distinction between classified and unclassified holiday lets is decisive. For 2026 income:
- Unclassified holiday let (most Airbnb listings): 30% allowance, micro-BIC available up to €15,000 of receipts
- Classified holiday let (1 to 5 stars): 50% allowance, micro-BIC available up to €83,600 of receipts
- Real regime: deduction of actual costs (loan interest, service charges, insurance, management fees, works) plus depreciation of the property and furniture
According to the DGFiP, the real regime becomes compulsory when the threshold is exceeded in two consecutive years; a single year above it is not enough. You can also opt for the real regime below the threshold. A simple example: an unclassified studio in the Carré d'Or taking €14,000 in the year stays under micro-BIC and is taxed on €9,800 (€14,000 less 30%). The same flat, if classified, would be taxed on €7,000.
In Nice, where a well-located one-bedroom flat often exceeds €15,000 a year thanks to summer, the Monaco Grand Prix and conferences, the real regime question comes up quickly. It requires bookkeeping and a results return (form 2031) filed online before the second working day after 1 May, but depreciation often wipes out all or part of the taxable profit. Our LMNP guide for Nice explains the calculation, and the Airbnb net income simulator gives you a ballpark figure.
Classification is a voluntary process that can raise your allowance from 30% to 50%. You apply to an accredited body, which inspects the property: an outlay often recouped quickly on a busy Nice flat.
Step 4: fill in the 2042-C-PRO, box by box
You file online at impots.gouv.fr. On the screen where you select the sections of your return, tick income from non-professional furnished lettings: the 2042-C-PRO is then added automatically. The box numbers below are those of the form published in 2026 for 2025 income, the first to reflect the reform. They should carry over in 2027, but check that year's guidance notes before you submit.
Under micro-BIC (LMNP)
Report your gross receipts without applying the allowance yourself: 5NG (first declarant) or 5OG (second declarant) for a classified holiday let or a B&B, and 5NH or 5OH for an unclassified holiday let. Box 5NI (5OI) is for other furnished lets, such as a year-round let or a mobility lease (bail mobilité).
If your receipts are subject to Urssaf social contributions, other boxes apply: 5NJ for a classified let, 5NK for an unclassified one. The form also asks for the address of the property.
Under the real regime (LMNP)
Report the result from your form 2031: a profit in box 5NA (5OA for the second declarant), a loss in box 5NY (5OY). Earlier losses not yet used go in the dedicated boxes, year by year. As an LMNP, a loss can only be set against furnished letting income over the following ten years.
If you are an LMP
Income is declared in the professional industrial and commercial income section, not in the non-professional lettings section. Given the social security and tax stakes, have your accountant prepare this part.
Social charges and instalments
Non-professional furnished letting income declared on the 2042-C-PRO is automatically subject to social charges (prélèvements sociaux) at 18.6% on 2026 income, unless it is already subject to Urssaf contributions. Do not report it a second time in the investment income section. In our example of the unclassified studio taking €14,000, the €9,800 base therefore bears around €1,823 of social charges on top of income tax.
As with any income not taxed at source by a third party, tax is paid during the year through instalments calculated from your last return. If you start letting in 2026, you can report this new income in your personal online account to spread the cost rather than paying it all at once in 2027.
Letting one flat short-term on Airbnb and another on a mobility lease? Short-term receipts go in the holiday let box (5NG or 5NH), mobility lease receipts in box 5NI. Do not mix them up.
DAC7: what Airbnb reports to the tax office
Do not count on your income going unnoticed. Since France transposed the European DAC7 directive, platforms including Airbnb must report to the tax authorities the income their hosts receive from letting property. The report is due by 31 January of the following year, and the platform must also inform you of the data it has sent.
For a property in Nice, the information is attached to the location of the property, even if you live abroad. In practice, the tax office already holds the amounts paid by Airbnb when you fill in your return. A significant gap between the two is a classic audit trigger.
Reconciliation works both ways: compare the statement Airbnb sends you in early 2027 with your own records before declaring. Cancellations, refunds and bookings straddling two years often explain differences.
CFE: the local business tax people forget
The business property contribution (CFE) catches out Nice owners every year. Because furnished letting is a commercial activity, it is liable, even without any company structure. Several rules soften the bill:
- CFE is not due in the year the activity starts
- Landlords with annual receipts of €5,000 or less are exempt
- Letting your own home as a holiday let is in principle exempt, unless the local authority has decided otherwise
- In the first year, an initial return no. 1447-C-SD must be filed by 31 December with the tax office where the property is located
The CFE notice is not posted to you: it is made available in your professional account on impots.gouv.fr, one more reason to open it as soon as you have your SIRET. CFE and the council tax on second homes follow different logic: we explain this in our article on council tax for second homes in Nice.
Main residence let for 120 days: how is it taxed?
This is the most common case among our owners: you let your main residence while you are away, within the 120 days allowed in Nice. For tax purposes there is no general exemption for this. Your receipts are declared like those of any holiday let, in 5NH if the property is unclassified, in 5NG if it is classified.
The income tax exemptions cover other situations: letting part of your main residence at a reasonable rent to someone who lives there as their home, or letting rooms in your main residence to people passing through, where receipts do not exceed €760 including VAT a year. Letting the whole flat while you are away fits neither.
For CFE, however, letting your own home as a holiday let in principle benefits from the exemption mentioned above, unless the local authority has decided otherwise. And council tax (taxe d'habitation) no longer applies to you: it has been abolished for main residences.
The 2027 timetable and mistakes to avoid
Filing for 2026 income will open in spring 2027. Deadlines depend on the département: the Alpes-Maritimes is traditionally in the first zone, with the earliest deadline. Check the official calendar as soon as it is announced. Under the real regime, form 2031 must be filed before the second working day after 1 May, that is, before the income tax return.
The mistakes we see most often:
- Declaring Airbnb rent as property income instead of on the 2042-C-PRO
- Applying the allowance yourself instead of reporting gross receipts
- Using box 5NG without a valid classification
- Forgetting the SIRET, then the initial CFE return
- Declaring a figure different from the one reported by Airbnb without being able to explain it
- Staying on micro-BIC out of habit when the real regime would be more favourable
This guide sets out general rules and is no substitute for tax advice tailored to your situation. For the real regime, LMP status or non-resident situations, a chartered accountant remains the right person to ask.
On the management side, we make life easier: our Airbnb concierge service in Nice sends you a detailed report every Friday with your bookings and income, which simplifies things when it is time to declare. Under the real regime, our 20% excl. VAT commission (24% incl. VAT) counts as a deductible management cost.
