Hi @Ed0 and @Sasko0,
I am French and live in the US. I also have a rental activity through AirBnB in Paris. I had to thoroughly study the subject of AirBnB rentals in Paris to make sure I did nothing wrong. Actually, the fiscal part is a rather easy subject compared to other regulations - but I appreciate the fact that it may seem complex to non-French citizens. And yes, we do usually not file taxes through an accountant in France... we do it ourselves 😉 The problems for foreigners being that most of the support information is provided in French only... But I found some pages in English which may be useful for you guys
First, determine your situation:
A- You make less than €760 per year with your rental revenue: you have no obligation to declare
B- You make between €760 and €23,000 per year with your rental: you have to declare as a non-professional and can chose between 1. a simplified fiscal status (micro BIC), whereby you declare just the turnover, get a 50% discount on it and pay the relevant tax rate (this rate will depend on your status, if you are or not a French fiscal resident, if you pay taxes in another country and if this other country has tax agreement with France, so I won't be going into the details here), or 2. a deduction of real expenses scheme that can, sometimes, be more advantageous if you have a lot of costs associated with your apartment
C-you make €23,000 and above per year with your rental revenue: same as B except that you have additional social obligations (pay social charges), may automatically qualify for a professional status as of €32,900 of revenues implying you opt for the deduction of real expense scheme, you officially register as a company, etc.
You will find more information in English on that on:
https://www.cabinet-roche.com/en/french-income-tax-return-2017-airbnb-other-income-also-to-declare/
You can always declare and pay your French taxes online, more information on:
https://www.impots.gouv.fr/portail/international-particulier/income-reporting-obligations-france
You also have to collect local Paris city taxes from your guests (€0.88/night and per person in 2018 if your apartment is not officially starred). AirBnB will collect and pay them automatically for you, but you also can declare and pay for your direct rentals. More info (in French again, sorry) on:
https://www.paris.fr/municipalite/l-hotel-de-ville/taxes-et-impots-2318#la-taxe-de-sejour_7
Some accounting or fiscal consultants such as the one referred above (which I do not particularly recommend, I do not know them) can also help you. I personally use http://www.jedeclaremonmeuble.com/, but their website is in French, sorry. ;-( However I think they have the capacity to help in English if you contact them.
For your information, AirBnB will by law start to communicate the amount you made from your rental to the French tax authorities as of January 2019. So, there is little time left to conform.
This being said, the easiest part is addressed. Now come the specific regulations in Paris, which has nothing to do with tax law but has fiscal and penalty implications... As in New York, Berlin, and other cities around the world, our dear city of Paris is struggling with high property prices and rental costs preventing local dwellers from living their dreamed lives... So the city wants to regulate what can be done with apartments intended for the regular accomodation market. I will try to summarize the rules:
A- If you are a local and fiscal resident in Paris, you are allowed to rent your property (the one that is your official fiscal residence) a maximum of 120 days per year. Not one single day more, otherwise exposing you to biting fines.
B- if you are not a local and fiscal resident in Paris and rent out a property that was bought as an apartment intended for accommodation, you are allowed to rent 0 (yes, zero) days per year on AirBnB or anywhere else for short stays. You HAVE to rent it either on the regular non-furnished rental market (3-year leases) or furnished market (1-year leases). Otherwise exposing you to fines starting in the €25/50,000. The only way you can legally rent for short stays is to change the status of your apartment (we call this "usage change"). It can be refused by the city of Paris or cost you a serious amount of money because you will have to buy commercial rights from contractors transforming, say, commercial properties into regular apartments, but depending where your property is located in Paris, they can require that you buy twice the size of your surface to obtain the usage change. So, costly and risky but not impossible. After you proceed with usage change, you also have to obtain the authorization of the Urban planning department of the city of Paris with what we call a "destination change". And to declare your short stay rental activity with the city of Paris. You can be fined for not conforming with any of these regulations...
More information (again in French, sorry…) on:
https://www.paris.fr/meubles-touristiques
So, there is still a lot to be said on the details, but, relating to your initial question, I would rather first focus on the legality your rental situation in Paris (am I even allowed to rent for short stays ?) before I worry about tax filing. I would say that the non-conformity with local Paris laws exposes any foreigner with a property in Paris to more significant and immediate risks than not declaring your 2017 rental income...
I hope this helps and still doesn't scare you out. It's true we have a lot of complex regulations in France, but, after all, cities like NYC and others in Europe are also in the fight to protect their local populations from being totally evicted from the city centers. I think they are right. Paris would maybe be more polite and less crowded without the Parisians, but it wouldn’t be Paris 😉
