Oh dear, Sue! Not so good just before Christmas. You defo ought not have the taxe d’habitation when the gîte is never being used by yourselves for temporary accommodation and is a full out business property.
However, bureaucracy being a national sport, never takes a holiday.
That said, I wonder if this can help you:
https://www.impots.gouv.fr/formulaire/1205-gd-sd/taxe-dhabitation-demande-dexoneration-pour-meubles-de-tourisme-et-chambres-dh
Or perhaps previous SF topic
Dear all,
We bought a 2nd house on the same site / same address from previous same owners as our principal residence in December 2017. We immediately started operating it as a location meublé non-professional then switched it to autoentrepreneur at the beginning of 2019. During 2018, we received a state-approved 3* classification.
In 2018, no mention of paying taxe d’habitation. However, I received a taxe d’habitation request for 2019 in November in the amount of €394. Did a bit of research online and came across a text that said that meublés de tourisme classés were exempt (exonéré) from taxe d’habitation. I stupidly didn’t save the link to the text but sent my claim for the exoneration via the secure message service, got a holding letter in December saying they were studying it and then a mail in February saying a dégrèvement had been given. I assumed (I know, I know) that this was for the whole amount and therefore the end of the matter.
Then a letter dated 3 days after the mail…
Hope this helps. Meanwhile, I’ll continue research to see if I can find a standard letter for you to send…