Renting out your villa in St. Barths: tourist tax and owner filings

Renting out a villa in St. Barths comes down to three obligations: declare the property before you rent it, collect a tourist tax of 5% of the pre-tax nightly rate, then report it and pass it on to the island’s government on a tight schedule. An annual waste disposal tax comes on top. Here are the rules, the deadlines and the penalties.

How much is the tourist tax in St. Barths?

The tourist tax (taxe de séjour) applies to hotels, villas and furnished tourist rentals. It equals 5% of the pre-tax nightly rate. It is collected by the host or by the platform, then passed on to the Collectivité, the island’s local government.

By way of illustration, a night billed at €2,000 before tax gives rise to €100 of tourist tax.

Do you need to declare your villa before renting it out?

Every furnished tourist rental must be the subject of a prior declaration. Failing to file it exposes the owner to an administrative fine of up to €5,000 per property: the fine can be imposed as many times as there are properties concerned. The person concerned has one month to submit observations before the decision is made.

Tourist tax: the reporting and payment calendar

Obligation	Deadline
Prior declaration of the rental	Before the property is rented
Tourist tax return	Within fifteen days after the month of the stay
Tourist tax payment	By the last day of the month in which the return is filed
Waste disposal tax	Due January 1, payable by March 31 at the latest

These deadlines apply when the return and payment are handled through the dedicated online tool. Stays in a given month are therefore reported early the following month, and the corresponding tax is paid before that same month ends. When the formalities are carried out at the island’s collection office, the return and payment are both due by the last day of the month following the stay.

Example: tourist tax on a villa rented for twelve nights

Take Claire, who owns a villa declared as a furnished tourist rental and rents it directly for €3,000 a night before tax. In February she hosts two stays, of seven and five nights. This is a simplified example, for illustration only.

1. Nights rented in February: 7 + 5 = 12.
2. Pre-tax price of those nights: 12 × €3,000 = €36,000.
3. Tourist tax to collect: €36,000 × 5% = €1,800.
4. Return: within fifteen days after the month of February, so by March 15.
5. Payment to the Collectivité: by March 31.

That €1,800 is not Claire’s income: she collects it, then passes it on. If the rental went through a platform that collects the tax, the platform would remit it. The same calculation comes around every month the villa is rented.

Tourist tax: what happens if you are late, or forget?

The standard interest and penalties apply to the tourist tax.

Failure	Consequence
No prior declaration of the rental	Administrative fine of up to €5,000 per property
Late payment	10% penalty
Any delay	Interest of 0.75% per month, compounded

The tax code provides for heavier penalties in cases of deliberate non-compliance (40%) or fraudulent conduct (80%). The tax authorities can audit until the end of the third year following the year of the taxable event: we cover these rules in our insight on tax audits.

The waste disposal tax

This flat tax is owed each year for each dwelling, by the owner or by the holder of the life interest, and for each business establishment on the island.

Schedule category	Annual amount
Hotels and rental villas	€200 per bedroom
Primary residence	€105

It falls due on January 1 and must be paid by March 31 at the latest. Standard interest and penalties apply to late payment. Which category applies to a given villa should be checked with the island’s waste service.

Is rental income from a St. Barths villa taxed?

St. Barths has no income tax (see taxes and duties in St. Barths), so rent is not taxed locally. That says nothing about French tax. An owner whose tax home is in France, or who has lived on the island for less than five years, remains taxed in France on worldwide income, villa rent included. The five-year rule is decisive here. Whether French social levies apply to the rent is assessed case by case: see what France still taxes.

Where the villa is held through a company, an annual tax of 3% of the property’s market value applies, unless the company files a yearly declaration, before March 31, of the real estate it holds and the identity of its shareholders. See holding the villa through a company and, before that, buying property in St. Barths.

Renting out a villa in St. Barths: common mistakes

• Putting the villa on the market before filing the prior declaration.
• Not checking who, between the platform and the owner, actually collects and remits the tax.
• Missing the fifteen-day deadline: it is short, and it comes around every month the villa is rented.
• Overlooking the waste disposal tax, due by March 31.
• Mistaking the absence of local income tax for a general exemption, when an owner with a tax home in France remains taxable there.

Renting out a villa in St. Barths: the bottom line

Renting out a villa in St. Barths requires a prior declaration of the furnished tourist rental, with a fine of up to €5,000 per property for failing to file it. The tourist tax is 5% of the pre-tax nightly rate: the host or the platform collects it, reports it within fifteen days after the month of the stay and pays it before the end of the month in which it is reported. Late payment brings a 10% penalty and interest of 0.75% per month. The waste disposal tax schedule sets €200 per bedroom for hotels and rental villas, payable by March 31 at the latest. How the rent itself is taxed depends on the owner’s tax residency, and is best worked through with an adviser.

A note for U.S. readers: this article covers French and St. Barths rules only. U.S. citizens and green card holders remain subject to U.S. tax on their worldwide income wherever they live.