Heatwave, bookings skyrocketing, the promise of easy income… Renting out your pool for a few hours to neighbors through platforms like Swimmy is gaining more and more followers. On average, a reservation brings in about 100 to 120 euros, and some highly requested pools rise well above that over a summer season.
Raphaëlle De Monteynard, founder of Swimmy, observes: “We have owners who, this year, even before July, had earned between 4,000 and 5,000 euros thanks to heat waves,” which corresponds to nearly 30,000 euros over a season in very tight markets. The lingering question is how the taxation of pool rentals applies to these sums.
Renting your pool via a platform: what the tax authorities already see
In the eyes of the administration, this is not a “hidden income.” Like housing rental sites, platforms that enable private swimming pool rentals collect the identity, the tax number, and the breakdown of earnings for each host. Under the European DAC7 framework, this information is transmitted to the Directorate General of Public Finances (DGFiP), which can cross-check it with your annual declaration.
Platforms must also send by January 31 at latest a summary of the amounts collected in the previous year. This document serves as a reminder: it does not replace the tax return, but it emphasizes that every euro earned from renting your pool must be included in your income. The tax authorities may even display these amounts as indicative in your online filing journey, leaving it to you to verify that you are in the correct category.
Pool rental: rental income or BIC, how to decide
The key, according to the leaflets of service-public.fr, lies in the presence or absence of services. When you simply rent an asset or an empty outbuilding, the revenues are, in principle, rental income. As soon as you provide a service (provision of equipment, organization, snacks, cleaning…), the administration shifts to BIC, for industrial and commercial profits.
To help you navigate, here are a few common cases:
- Access to the pool alone, for a few hours, with no other service: revenues classified as rental income.
- Pool + systematic lending of towels, loungers, games, and even snacks or drinks: revenues taxed as BIC.
- Rental of a furnished pool house with the pool, cleaned between groups: revenue treated as a furnished rental activity, hence BIC.
Micro-foncier, micro-BIC, thresholds and fake exemptions
If your earnings fall under rental income and the total gross rent (pool included) does not exceed 15,000 euros per year, you generally fall under the micro-foncier regime. You report the gross amount on line 4BE of the 2042 form; the administration automatically applies a 30% deduction for charges. Beyond that threshold, or if you choose the actual expenses, you must itemize your deductions on a 2044 form.
If your revenues are taxed under BIC (pool with services), the micro-BIC regime applies as long as the annual total stays below about 77,700 euros, according to the scales published on impots.gouv.fr. You then declare the gross amount on Form 2042-C-PRO; the administration applies a flat 50% deduction. When rental income from goods does not exceed 305 euros per year, it is effectively exempt and does not need to be reported.
Many confusions stem from other thresholds. The 2,000-euro cap and 30 transactions mentioned for platforms mainly concern the obligation to transmit information, not an exemption from tax. The famous 760-euro threshold applies to certain cases of renting out rooms in the main residence, not to simply making a pool available. For a private pool rental, apart from the 305-euro exception, the income is taxable from the first euro. Whether you are an owner or a tenant of the dwelling, the tax category depends on the nature of the rental, not on the occupancy status. Because rules can evolve, the detailed pages published on impots.gouv.fr, service-public.fr, or directly by the DGFiP remain the reference to consult when filing your declaration.
