Lawsuits are piling up against Booking.com.
After the breach opened by Oléron last year, which forced Booking.com to pay 574,000 euros in unpaid tourist taxes to the local authority, a court in eastern France has once again handed down a decision unfavorable to the American giant.
This time, the sanction is even higher, as Booking must pay more than 800,000 euros for failures related to collecting the tourist tax, according to the outlet La Lettre.
We located the judgment of the Nancy court, dated October 20, 2026.
The metropolis of Nancy analyzed the tourist tax collection declarations submitted by the Booking platform for the years 2022 to 2025 and found numerous irregularities.
After the breach opened by Oléron last year, which forced Booking.com to pay 574,000 euros in unpaid tourist taxes to the local authority, a court in eastern France has once again handed down a decision unfavorable to the American giant.
This time, the sanction is even higher, as Booking must pay more than 800,000 euros for failures related to collecting the tourist tax, according to the outlet La Lettre.
We located the judgment of the Nancy court, dated October 20, 2026.
The metropolis of Nancy analyzed the tourist tax collection declarations submitted by the Booking platform for the years 2022 to 2025 and found numerous irregularities.
Taxe de séjour : Booking.com condamné pour des erreurs de calcul et omissions
It found “omissions and inaccuracies” particularly between the first half of 2023 and the second half of 2025. And these platform errors amount to 19,282 over three years.
In addition, it noted that 390 bookings made between 2023 and 2025 with non-professional hosts had not undergone any tax collection.
The court therefore ordered Booking.com to pay 75,000 euros to the metropolis of Nancy for calculation errors, as well as a fine of 780,000 euros for the 390 omissions.
To read: Tourist tax: when Airbnb derails the business model… of tourism offices in France
It nevertheless dismissed the municipality’s claim regarding the 283 omissions of collection observed in stays listed by professional hosts, because it did not demonstrate that hosts labeled as “professional” by Booking were in fact non-professional.
In addition, it noted that 390 bookings made between 2023 and 2025 with non-professional hosts had not undergone any tax collection.
The court therefore ordered Booking.com to pay 75,000 euros to the metropolis of Nancy for calculation errors, as well as a fine of 780,000 euros for the 390 omissions.
To read: Tourist tax: when Airbnb derails the business model… of tourism offices in France
It nevertheless dismissed the municipality’s claim regarding the 283 omissions of collection observed in stays listed by professional hosts, because it did not demonstrate that hosts labeled as “professional” by Booking were in fact non-professional.
Booking.com has decided to appeal the decision of the Nancy Judicial Court.
Taxe de séjour : Booking.com face à de multiples plaintes
And this legal defeat could pave the way for more, as the American giant would be facing a wave of lawsuits brought by French local authorities, all on the same ground and for the same period, according to the outlet La Lettre.
We traced a recent ruling in favor of Contamines-Montjoie, where the municipality will receive 16,350 euros for omissions and inaccuracies in the declarations of the tourist tax.
Another judicial battle appears underway, this time in Limoges, where the district court ordered Booking.com, in May 2026, to provide the concerned authority with files detailing stays conducted on its territory and information related to payments and reservations.
This authority, whose name has been redacted, could be the ELAN community of communes, comprising 28,000 residents. According to the interim order, it suspects the giant of not having remitted the full tourist taxes it collects.
Yet, since January 1, 2019, platforms like Booking.com and Airbnb, when acting as payment intermediaries, must collect the tourist tax and transmit to the authorities the information enabling control of the amounts.
In a response to a senator published on July 4, 2019, the Ministry of Economy and Finance recalled their obligation to “transmit, like other hosts and professionals, all information necessary for the control of the tourist tax referred to in III of article L. 2333-34“.
However, there are many cases where cities and metropolises did not receive, in a timely manner, files sufficiently detailed to verify proper collection and remittance of the tourist tax.
Deputy Louise Morel (6th district of Bas-Rhin) thus questioned the minister in charge of Public Accounts in August 2023 to draw attention to the opacity of the platforms. She cited in particular the case of a mayor in Bas-Rhin who could not obtain from Airbnb any clarification on the origin of the sums paid.
We traced a recent ruling in favor of Contamines-Montjoie, where the municipality will receive 16,350 euros for omissions and inaccuracies in the declarations of the tourist tax.
Another judicial battle appears underway, this time in Limoges, where the district court ordered Booking.com, in May 2026, to provide the concerned authority with files detailing stays conducted on its territory and information related to payments and reservations.
This authority, whose name has been redacted, could be the ELAN community of communes, comprising 28,000 residents. According to the interim order, it suspects the giant of not having remitted the full tourist taxes it collects.
Yet, since January 1, 2019, platforms like Booking.com and Airbnb, when acting as payment intermediaries, must collect the tourist tax and transmit to the authorities the information enabling control of the amounts.
In a response to a senator published on July 4, 2019, the Ministry of Economy and Finance recalled their obligation to “transmit, like other hosts and professionals, all information necessary for the control of the tourist tax referred to in III of article L. 2333-34“.
However, there are many cases where cities and metropolises did not receive, in a timely manner, files sufficiently detailed to verify proper collection and remittance of the tourist tax.
Deputy Louise Morel (6th district of Bas-Rhin) thus questioned the minister in charge of Public Accounts in August 2023 to draw attention to the opacity of the platforms. She cited in particular the case of a mayor in Bas-Rhin who could not obtain from Airbnb any clarification on the origin of the sums paid.
Taxe de séjour : le gouvernement reconnait les difficultés rencontrées par les collectivités
Three years later, another member of parliament asks a question in this vein to the tourism minister.
Jean-Luc Bourgeaux, deputy of the 7th constituency of Ille-et-Vilaine, notes a Booking remittance made outside the regulatory deadlines for the tax collected in the second half of 2025.
The transfer was made on January 16, 2026, instead of by December 31, 2025 at the latest, as provided by article L. 2333-34 of the CGCT.
This is not all, as the deputy points out that the declarative statement only reached Saint-Malo Agglomeration on February 2, 2026, after the payment. And the document was incomplete, with missing registration numbers for tourist flats in Saint-Malo, missing hosting addresses and inconsistencies in certain declared amounts…
A situation that has persisted since 2019, as we revealed regarding Airbnb.
A response from Serge Papin was published on October 27, 2026.
The minister in charge of Tourism acknowledges the operational difficulties faced by certain territorial authorities on this issue.
He nonetheless recalls the FARITAS tool, created to Facilitate the Recovery of Tax and Tourist Tax, as well as the possibility for authorities to take legal action.
“The Government remains fully committed to supporting territorial authorities in exercising their powers and will ensure the full effectiveness of the legal obligations applicable to digital platforms,” he concludes.
Jean-Luc Bourgeaux, deputy of the 7th constituency of Ille-et-Vilaine, notes a Booking remittance made outside the regulatory deadlines for the tax collected in the second half of 2025.
The transfer was made on January 16, 2026, instead of by December 31, 2025 at the latest, as provided by article L. 2333-34 of the CGCT.
This is not all, as the deputy points out that the declarative statement only reached Saint-Malo Agglomeration on February 2, 2026, after the payment. And the document was incomplete, with missing registration numbers for tourist flats in Saint-Malo, missing hosting addresses and inconsistencies in certain declared amounts…
A situation that has persisted since 2019, as we revealed regarding Airbnb.
A response from Serge Papin was published on October 27, 2026.
The minister in charge of Tourism acknowledges the operational difficulties faced by certain territorial authorities on this issue.
He nonetheless recalls the FARITAS tool, created to Facilitate the Recovery of Tax and Tourist Tax, as well as the possibility for authorities to take legal action.
“The Government remains fully committed to supporting territorial authorities in exercising their powers and will ensure the full effectiveness of the legal obligations applicable to digital platforms,” he concludes.
