At the end of September, many rental companies received an email from the DGFiP to inform them of the developments that the adoption of the Le Meur law brought to the micro-BIC regime for short-term rentals. Based on this email, rental companies currently covered by the micro-BIC regime have three solutions, namely, for some, to necessarily move to the real regime, and for others, to voluntarily move to the real regime or to remain in the micro-BIC regime. What to do in such a situation? Explanations and decryption of the DGFiP email and its consequences for short-term rental companies.
Who must switch to the real regime for the 2025 income declaration?
The Le Meur law revised the ceilings of the micro-BIC regime for short-term rentals, increasing them to €15,000 for unclassified tourist accommodation (compared to €77,700 previously), and to €77,700 for classified tourist accommodation and guest rooms (€188,700 previously). As a reminder, the micro-BIC scheme is only accessible provided that annual revenues are below the fixed ceiling. The fact that the latter has been revised downwards, and in particular for unclassified furnished tourist accommodation for which it is quite easy to exceed the ceiling of €15,000, means that rental companies who could until now fall under the micro-BIC regime will therefore have to change their tax regime.
However, the email sent by the DGFiP provides clarification for those potentially concerned: only those who have exceeded the amount of the new ceiling over the last two years are required to change regime for their 2025 income tax return. In fact, there is a tolerance period of two years during which micro-BIC renters can exceed the planned ceiling, without a change being automatically obligatory. In other words, if you have been renting an unclassified tourist accommodation for several years, and in 2023 and 2024 you have systematically declared an amount of income greater than €15,000 (or €77,700 for a classified tourist accommodation), you must change your regime. Otherwise, you are not obliged to do so, at least for 2025 income. Please note in this regard that the ceilings do not apply per accommodation but for the entire activity. If several properties are put up for short-term rental, it is therefore appropriate to add the respective turnover figures to verify compliance with the set threshold.
Who should consider going real for the 2025 income declaration?
The Le Meur law has not only revised downwards the ceilings of the micro-BIC scheme, but also its reduction rate. Thus, unclassified tourist accommodation sees their reduction fall from 50% to 30%, while for classified tourist accommodation and guest rooms, it goes from 71% to 50%. As a direct consequence of a lower abatement rate, higher taxes will affect taxpayers for their 2025 income with, in an equivalent situation, an increase in their taxes of at least 40%. Thus, if some taxpayers are forced to switch to the real regime, all others have an interest in recalculating the advantages of the micro-BIC regime according to their situation. For a classified tourist accommodation, it was previously necessary for expenses for the needs of the activity to represent less than 50% of the total amount of revenue for this regime to be profitable; today, they must not represent more than 30% of revenue for the micro-BIC regime to remain advantageous.
Lessors who do not wish to face an increase in their taxation, or who are wondering about the relevance of remaining in the micro-BIC regime, must therefore take their measures, for example by using a tax simulator, in order to assess the relevance of switching to the real regime. If necessary, they will need to act quickly, in order to seize the chance that seems to be given to them this year to be able to change their regime again. Indeed, in normal times, such a change could not take place so late in the year, the legal option period ending in the spring. But, given the temporality of the DGFiP email, perhaps they can hope for a certain tolerance.
Who can stay on the micro-BIC diet?
Generally speaking, rental companies who are not forced to switch to the real regime can also choose to remain under the micro-BIC regime. This will for example be the case in situations where the deductible charges and the depreciation of the real regime combined do not succeed in reducing taxation more effectively than the reduction, even revised downwards, of the micro-BIC regime. This option may also concern rental companies who wish, at all costs, to maintain the declarative simplicity of the micro-BIC regime. In all cases, rental companies who rent unclassified furnished tourist accommodation have, as a last resort, the possibility of having their furnished tourist accommodation classified, in order to maintain a reduction equivalent to that to which they were accustomed. For those who already rent a classified tourist accommodation, they will only be able to bear the increase in their taxes if they remain on the micro-BIC regime.
