Tourist tax (taxe de séjour) in Nice 2026: rated vs unrated rates, who pays, exemptions, reporting at actual cost. The full guide for furnished rental owners.
In Nice, the tourist tax on an unrated furnished rental comes to 6.70% of the per-person, per-night price (excluding tax) in 2026, capped at €6.43 — a sum you collect from your guest, never pay yourself, but must report on your own. It's a simple mechanism once you grasp it, yet the single biggest source of mistakes among short-term rental owners. Here is how the tourist tax (taxe de séjour) works in Nice, what it costs depending on your situation, who is exempt, and how to report it safely.
Rates and rules change regularly: the information below is current at the date of publication and given for guidance only. When in doubt, refer to the official sources (Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolis, service-public.fr).
What is the tourist tax in Nice?
The tourist tax is a contribution the Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolis levies on tourists staying in accommodation across its territory: hotels, campsites, guest rooms or short-term rentals. It applies across the 51 member municipalities, including Nice, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Beaulieu-sur-Mer and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, and the proceeds go to the metropolitan Tourist Office to fund visitor services and promotion.
The key point: the tax is not a tax on your income. You, the owner, do not pay it. You collect it from your guest, per person and per night, then pass it on to the Metropolis. You act as an intermediary — which doesn't excuse you from calculating it correctly or filing it. That is exactly where things slip through the cracks.
How much is the tourist tax in Nice in 2026?
In Nice, the tourist tax is levied at actual cost (au réel): it is due on nights actually let, with no allowance, and its amount depends on your property's star rating. The 2026 rates are unchanged from 2025. They already include the 34% departmental surtax applied across the Alpes-Maritimes and the share earmarked for the Provence Côte d'Azur new rail line; the figures below are therefore the total amount to collect from your guest.
| Accommodation category | Total tourist tax (per person, per night) |
|---|---|
| Unrated furnished rental | 6.70% of the per-person price (capped at €6.43) |
| Rated 1 star | €1.07 |
| Rated 2 stars | €1.34 |
| Rated 3 stars | €2.28 |
| Rated 4 stars | €3.48 |
| Rated 5 stars | €4.69 |
| Palace | €6.43 |
Official 2026 tourist tax schedule, Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolis (34% surtax included) — rates unchanged from 2025.
For an unrated furnished rental, the calculation has three steps. Reduce the nightly price to a cost per person, apply the 6.70%, then multiply by the number of taxable guests. Take the reference example we follow across the blog: a two-room flat of around 40 m² sleeping four, recently renovated and tastefully furnished, in a central district. Let at €150 a night for four adults, that's €37.50 per person, so 6.70% × €37.50 = €2.51 per person per night, hence €10.04 of tourist tax for the night. If the stay is a couple with two minor children (exempt), the tax drops to €5.02.
The €6.43 cap protects the highest rates: even on a premium let at €600 a night for two, the per-person tax is capped at the palace rate. That's also why star-rating changes everything, as we'll see below.
Who pays the tourist tax, and who is exempt?
The tax is due from every adult staying in your property who is not domiciled there. Three groups are exempt: minors under 18, holders of a seasonal employment contract working in the municipality, and people in emergency or temporary rehousing. In practice, on a family let, it's mainly children who reduce the bill.
Be sure to display it clearly: the guest needs to know the tourist tax is added to the nightly price. On Airbnb, Booking or Vrbo it appears automatically at the booking stage, which keeps things transparent for the guest — but does not relieve you of your reporting obligations.
Rated or unrated: which tourist tax applies?
This is the key trade-off. As long as your home is unrated, you apply the 6.70% rate: the tax climbs mechanically with your high-season prices, exactly when the Riviera commands its strongest nightly rates. A rated property instead switches to a fixed flat rate per night and per person, independent of price. For a three-star, the tax is locked at €2.28 per person per night, whatever you charge.
Take our two-room flat let at €150 for four adults. Unrated, it generates €10.04 of tax a night; rated three stars, it falls to €9.12 (€2.28 × 4) — and the gap widens sharply once rates rise in July and August. For a high-value property, star-rating your furnished rental therefore lowers the tourist tax on top of improving your tax position (the flat-rate, micro-BIC allowance rises from 30% to 50%). We unpack this dual mechanism in our guide to star-rating your furnished rental in Nice.
How do you report and pay the tourist tax in Nice?
The tourist tax is filed online on the Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolis Tourist Tax portal, after creating a host account and a record for each property. Filing is compulsory at the end of each four-month period (three times a year), and that holds even if you let through a platform that already collects and remits the tax for you, and even if you had no bookings in the period — in which case you file a nil return.
Two common traps. First, confusing collection and reporting: Airbnb does collect the tax on your unrated bookings and remits it, but it's on you to log each stay on the portal so the accounts add up. Second, forgetting the registration number: in Nice it is obtained on that same portal, after a change-of-use authorisation for a second home, and it is a prerequisite for any letting (see our Nice registration number procedure). These duties sit within a strict local framework that we decode in our guide to Airbnb rules in Nice in 2026.
Handled well, the tourist tax is just one more line in the machinery of a profitable rental — provided nothing is forgotten. It's one of the tasks we take on entirely for owners: collection, rate tracking and quarterly filing, without you ever opening the portal. To see what that looks like for your property, get an estimate with BMG.
Official sources
- Tourist Tax portal — Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolis (2026 rates, calculator, host account creation and online filing)
- 2026 tourist tax schedule — Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolis (detailed schedule by category with worked examples)
- Tourist tax — service-public.fr (national framework, rates and exemptions)
- Change of use and furnished tourist rentals — Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolis (steps required before letting)
Frequently asked questions
How much is the tourist tax in Nice in 2026?
For an unrated furnished rental, the tourist tax in Nice is 6.70% of the per-person nightly price (excluding tax) in 2026, capped at €6.43. A rated property switches to a fixed flat rate per person, per night: €1.07 for one star, €1.34 for two, €2.28 for three, €3.48 for four and €4.69 for five stars. These rates, unchanged from 2025, already include the 34% departmental surtax for the Alpes-Maritimes.
Who is exempt from the tourist tax in Nice?
Three groups are exempt: minors under 18, holders of a seasonal employment contract working in the municipality, and people in emergency or temporary rehousing. On a family let, it is essentially children who reduce the amount to collect. Every other adult staying in the property is liable, per person and per night.
Do I still report the tourist tax if Airbnb already collects it?
Yes. Airbnb, Booking and Vrbo collect the tax on your bookings and remit it to the Metropolis, but filing on the Tourist Tax portal remains compulsory for the owner, every four-month period. You must log your stays there — and file a nil return if you had no bookings in the period. Collection by the platform and reporting by the host are two separate obligations that should not be confused.
Is the tourist tax cheaper if my rental is star-rated?
Often, yes, for a high-value property. An unrated rental is taxed at 6.70% of the nightly price per person, so the tax rises with your high-season rates. A rated rental moves to a fixed flat rate (for example €2.28 per person per night at three stars), independent of price. The higher your nightly rate, the more advantageous the rated flat rate becomes — on top of the tax allowance rising from 30% to 50%.
How often must the tourist tax be reported in Nice?
The tourist tax is filed three times a year, at the end of each four-month period, on the Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolis portal. Filing is compulsory even with no bookings in the period: you simply file a nil return. Meeting these deadlines avoids reminders and adjustments, and keeps your host file perfectly up to date.
