the government allows a larger-than-expected reduction in the tax allowance for short-term tourist rentals to pass

The Senate intends to reduce the tax reduction from which short-term tourist rentals can benefit, much more than the government had initially envisaged.

Little surprise in the next state budget. The government has not removed an amendment that reduces the tax relief enjoyed by Airbnb rentals, introduced by the Senate in the 2024 draft budget, with a greater reduction than the executive had initially envisaged. An unexpected situation which the oppositions welcomed, Friday December 15.

Currently, rents received from the rental of classified tourist accommodation benefit from a tax reduction of 71%. The government planned, during the first reading of the budget, to reduce this reduction to 50% in stressed areas. But senators from several groups introduced an amendment to lower the allowance to 30% in tight areas, with a revenue ceiling lowered to 15,000 euros, and 50% in rural areas.

The government could have reintroduced its initial formulation when it initiated 49.3 on Thursday December 14. But the amendment which planned to rewrite this article was not retained. A “hardware error”admitted a government source to AFP, stressing also that the rules of parliamentary procedure “do not allow the provision to be corrected immediately”.

Soon a parliamentary mission on the subject

While waiting for a possible turnaround, this “error” delights the oppositions. “Nothing justifies paying more taxes by renting your home to an employee for the year than by renting it to a tourist on Airbnb”, communist senator Ian Brossat, one of the parliamentarians behind the article in the Senate, insisted to AFP on Friday. Opposition parliamentarians, but also some in the majority, are pushing to review this tax advantage, supported by local elected officials who complain about the lack of housing available due to short-term rentals.

In the Assembly, the Minister of Housing Patrice Vergriete said he supported “a reform of rental taxation for private landlords”while calling to be “careful”, recalling that a parliamentary mission was going to work on the subject. The debate will continue to be raised in the Assembly, with the continued examination of a transpartisan law on the subject, expected in January.