Tourist tax — host guide for the French West Indies and French Guiana

In a nutshell

• The tourist tax is your legal obligation as a host, regardless of the platform you use (Airbnb, Booking, caribBook, your own site).
• The amount depends on your commune and the regime applied (per-night or lump-sum).
• An official DGFiP tool lets you find the rate per commune: taxesejour.impots.gouv.fr.
• caribBook covers Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Martin, Saint-Barthélemy and French Guiana — this page links to the official resources for each of these territories.

1. Who is liable for the tourist tax?

Per the official portal Service-Public Entreprendre, the tourist tax is governed by articles L.2333-26 to L.2333-47 of the General Code of Local Authorities (CGCT), with a possible additional departmental tax (article L.3333-1 CGCT).

It is the host, hotelier or owner who provides paid accommodation who is responsible for collecting and remitting the tax to the commune:

• Per-night tax: based on the number of nights stayed. The host collects from the guest and remits to the commune.
• Lump-sum tax: based on accommodation capacity with a discount. The host declares and remits directly.

In other words: you, the host, are legally responsible. A platform can help you collect, but cannot take on your liability for you.

2. Airbnb, Booking and the tourist tax — the reality

Some platforms (Airbnb, Booking) collect the tourist tax and remit it to the communes they have local agreements with. It's a real practical service where the agreement exists.

Two limits to keep in mind:

• These agreements don't cover every French commune. If your commune hasn't signed, it's still your job to declare and remit, even when going through Airbnb or Booking.
• The legal liability remains the host's (see §1). The platform may act as a collection intermediary, not as the taxpayer.

To verify how a third-party platform behaves, check its official help centre — and when in doubt, go back to the legal source: the commune and the DGFiP tool below.

3. How to find the rate for your property?

The French administration provides an official commune-by-commune lookup tool, run by the Direction générale des Finances publiques (DGFiP):

👉 taxesejour.impots.gouv.fr

This tool, presented on service-public.gouv.fr — Tourist tax rates by commune, lets you find:

• The regime in force in the commune (per-night or lump-sum)
• The rate per accommodation type and rating
• The collection periods

This is the only up-to-date official source — rates are set every year by commune or intercommunal council, so any other information (blogs, forums, old site versions) is at risk of being outdated.

4. Resources by territory (caribBook v1)

caribBook supports hosts on the 5 territories below. For each, we link to verifiable official resources; for the precise rate calculation, always use the DGFiP tool above.

Resources missing or an official URL changed? Let us know so we can update.

5. How is it calculated? (general formula)

The calculation depends on your commune's regime:

• Per-night tax: rate per night per liable person × number of adults × number of nights. Children under 18 are exempt.
• Lump-sum tax: capacity × rate × number of nights in the period, with a 10–80% discount. Less common for short-term vacation rentals.

Since rates are reviewed each year, any specific figure should come from the official tool taxesejour.impots.gouv.fr at the time of your declaration.

6. What caribBook does (and will do) for you

Today:

• caribBook lets you declare as you see fit — we don't substitute ourselves for your legal liability.
• You have access to a booking export with the relevant data (dates, number of adults, commune).
• This guide links to official resources for the 5 territories caribBook covers.

Planned for Q3 2026:

• Automatic tourist tax calculation per booking, based on the data the host provides (regime and rate of their commune).
• Upload-ready declaration export for the commune or EPCI.
• Clear display of the tax in the guest summary (transparency before booking).

We don't collect the tax on your behalf in v1. That requires agreements signed commune by commune — a project we'll re-evaluate beyond 50 active villas in a single area.

7. Quick FAQ