Star rating for a meublé de tourisme has never been compulsory. Since 1 January 2025 it is simply the most profitable line in the business.
What it changes, in euros
Under the micro-BIC regime you do not declare expenses: a flat-rate allowance is applied to your receipts and you are taxed on the rest.
- Rated property and bed and breakfast: 50 %, capped at €77,700 of receipts.
- Unrated property: 30 %, capped at €15,000.
On €30,000 of receipts, the taxable base falls from €21,000 to €15,000 — six thousand euros of difference, every year, for an inspection costing a few hundred euros and valid five years.
How rating works
An accredited body of your choice inspects against a public grid — equipment, comfort, condition, accessibility, services — and awards one to five stars, valid for five years. Most points are won on concrete things, not luxury.
Two honest caveats. The €15,000 cap on an unrated property is also the ceiling above which the micro-BIC regime stops applying altogether. And the régime réel, where you deduct real expenses instead of a flat rate, is sometimes better than either — typically if you have a mortgage or ongoing works. That is a question to put to an accountant once, with your own figures.
Side effects
A rated property pays tourist tax at a fixed rate per person per night; an unrated one at a percentage of the nightly price, so rating is not always the cheaper side of that particular calculation. Some holiday-voucher schemes and local grants are open only to rated properties. And stars are a signal the public understands — which matters most away from the platforms, that is, on your own site.
What it is not
Rating is not a quality label awarded by a jury, and it is not permanent: it lapses after five years and has to be renewed. It says the property meets a published list of criteria on the day it was visited. That is exactly why it is worth preparing for rather than worrying about.
Sources
- Guide pratique 2025 de la réglementation des meublés de tourisme, 1 September 2025.