Short-term rental in the Pays d'Uzès: who does what between the town hall, the local council and the tourist office

When you offer a property for short-term rental, you deal with several bodies that look alike and do very different things. Legally, a property rented to passing travellers is called a "meublé de tourisme", and that is the term we use below. This page puts each one in its place. For the general rules (registration, number of rental days, co-ownership, energy rating), our Le Meur law guide remains the reference.

This article only covers tourist furnished rentals (meublés de tourisme).

1. In one minute

2. The town hall: the property

It receives your declaration and, where the town issues a registration number, it gives you the number to show on your listings. It also decides whether a change of use needs authorisation. The national online service wasn't yet open to hosts at our last check. Until then the town hall is still your contact, and the details are in our guide.

3. The local council: the tourist tax

Who collects it?

In our area, the tourist tax is set up and collected by the communautés de communes, not by the tourist office. Uzès, Saint-Siffret and Lussan fall under the Pays d'Uzès council, while Collias, Remoulins and Vers-Pont-du-Gard fall under the Pont du Gard council. Guests pay the tax on top of the nightly rate, and the Gard Département adds a 10% surcharge.

How much?

For a rated property, the rate is fixed per person per night, depending on the number of stars: it is published by the local council. For an unrated property, it is proportional: in 2026, 5% of the pre-tax nightly price per person (the pre-tax price of the stay divided by the number of nights and by the number of guests), capped at €4.60, then increased by 10%. Both councils apply the same rate and the same cap. Children, seasonal workers employed in the area and people in emergency housing are exempt.

Your obligations

You collect the tax from guests before they leave, show it on the invoice separately from the price of the accommodation, and display the rates in the property. You then declare your nights online, on the platform of the Pays d'Uzès council or the Pont du Gard council. In the Pays d'Uzès, you receive an invitation at the start of each month to declare the previous month's nights before the 15th, and you pay three times a year, before 31 May, 30 September and 31 January.

What about platforms?

Since 2019, a platform that handles the payment for a non-professional host must collect the tax, declare it and pass it on for you. For those bookings you have nothing to collect. If you had no direct bookings in a month, the council asks you to simply confirm a register at zero. For a direct booking, or through a platform that doesn't collect the tax, you collect, declare and pay it yourself. The same applies if you are a professional host for tax purposes. Check the platform's invoice for a "tourist tax" line: some are slow to apply local rules.

4. The tourist office: information and promotion

It doesn't receive your declaration and doesn't collect the tourist tax. Its job is to promote the destination, and it offers hosts a page reminding them of their obligations and pointing them to the local councils for the tax. It isn't on the official list of bodies that carry out rating inspections (list of 1 October 2026).

5. The star rating

Rating is voluntary. It awards 1 to 5 stars, based on a national grid, and is checked every five years. Atout France publishes the list of bodies that carry out the inspections but doesn't rate properties itself: you choose a body from that list, which distinguishes accredited bodies from approved ones, and you ask for an inspection. The body sets its own fee. In the Gard, the list includes Gîtes de France Gard, tourist offices in other areas and property experts. Atout France also provides the signs for each number of stars.

A word of caution: Atout France reports phishing attempts by e-mail. Never send your documents by e-mail in reply to a message you didn't ask for.

For travellers, stars mean the same thing everywhere in France. For the tourist tax, the calculation changes, as above. For income tax, under the micro-BIC regime and for 2025 income, a rated property gets a 50% allowance up to €77,700 in revenue, against 30% up to €15,000 for an unrated one. Your accountant can tell you what that means in your case.

6. Who to contact for what

7. What MPM can do (and doesn't do)

Marsault Property Management is a concierge service: we prepare arrivals and departures, cleaning and guest relations. On paperwork, we help at no cost: helping you ask the right questions, preparing your file, understanding the rating and the tourist tax.

We don't make declarations on your behalf (the law requires you to do it yourself) and we don't give legal or tax advice on your case. For that, there are your notary, your accountant and your lawyer.

Renting or thinking of renting a property in the Pays d'Uzès? I'll come and see your property, free of charge and with no obligation. +33 6 33 39 00 32 · contact@marsaultproperty.fr · Let's talk

8. Sources and updates

Legal texts

• Code général des collectivités territoriales (French local authorities code): article L. 2333-30 (rates), article L. 2333-31 (exemptions), article L. 2333-34 (collection by platforms and declaration)

Further reading

• Pays d'Uzès council: tourist tax platform
• Pont du Gard council: tourist tax
• Atout France: tourist furnished rentals, inspection bodies and signs
• Our Le Meur law guide for Pays d'Uzès owners

Updates

• 21 October 2026: first version (sources checked on 20 October 2026). The tourist tax rates are the 2026 ones: this page will be updated when they are revised.

General information, up to date as of the date shown. It is not legal or tax advice. Rules may vary by town.