Bayeux lodging wants me to pay in cash

I routinely stay in small, mom & pop B&Bs in Normandy (I'll be staying in one in Sainte-Mère-Église in a month). They routinely request cash, and I am happy to oblige. My guess is the taxes in France are onerous and they are trying to avoid some. But I am not sure of this. Anyway, my hosts are very nice and I can't write off my trip anyway. I've found this in other small B&Bs elsewhere in Europe.

Yes, this is normal for B&B's. I have stayed in several in Germany and Austria, and they all required payment in cash.

Based on what I read online, a US bank takes up to 3½ to 4% of the total bill when you use an American credit card. The EU regulation for European banks at 3/10% for credit cards, 2/10% for debit cards, does not apply to non-European banks. Our banks can charge whatever they negotiate with the Network. When you use a credit card at a European accommodation you are really hurting the place and enriching the bank. I find that, for that reason, most small, less expensive places in Germany don't take cards, and even if they don't specify cash (a lot in Germany do), I like to pay them in cash.

On my last trip to Germany, three out of five places (14 of 20 nights) I stayed at specified cash only.

How do you think American card companies can give you up to 2% back on purchases. Essentially, they're paying you to screw the merchant.

BTW, most major banks will charge you 3% on debit card withdrawals in Europe, but they only pay the Network, who services the ATM withdrawals, 1%, and then keep a 2% profit for themselves. My credit union, and I think most credit unions, just passes the 1% Network fee on to the card holder. Wells Fargo, for customers, charges $5 for an up-to-$500 withdrawal, just over 1%, if you make almost $500 withdrawals.

We tend to stay at smaller family owned properties. Very often way pay cash in Italy, and we will be paying cash most of the time in Ireland for our accommodations. I'm sure we've paid cash occasionally in France. We just make sure we know where a few ATMs are located.

There are credit unions and other banks that reimburse for any ATM fees. I closed my Wells Fargo account and opened a Charles Schwab account. Schwab reimburses fees and their customer service is excellent.

Generally, when a small vendor in France insists on cash payment alone, they're not looking only to avoid the fee charged by credit card companies but to have the entire transaction remain off the books to avoid paying taxes on it. How one reacts to that depends on perspective. A lot of the things tourists come to France to enjoy -- the patrimoine, the cultural sights, the cultural events, the good roads -- rely on tax payments. Will one incident of a transaction that dodges taxation endanger that? No. Of course not. But the cumulative effect can build up. Participate in an off the books transaction if you feel you have to. But I would encourage visitors to France generally to be respectful and responsible when it comes to contributing to the upkeep of what they traveled so far to see.

I am not sure if I would call it normal but we have had this request on several occasions over the years. We have always been more cash oriented than CC so we are comfortable with a cash request. I will frequently ask when checking at a hotel if there is a cash discount. And sometimes there is a discount and we will take advantage of the discount. BUT. -- always ask for a receipt. One time and only one time, on the second or third day of our stay we were asked when we were going to pay. We paid in cash at check in. NO record. So I quickly went to the room, grabbed the receipt and returned. To this day I don't know if that. was a scam or just a mistake. But, I was covered.

@Bob,

what you are doing, essentially, is accusing people, without evidence, of breaking the law, just because they are avoiding a cost, which gets passed on to the consumer.

The alternative way I look at it is that the bigger, more expensive places, who are making a lot of extra money off of you, can afford to pay the credit card fee, whereas the small, family run places, who are operating on a shoestring, don't have the margin to pay for credit cards, so don't take them. You have to factor in that the Germans, as a people, eschew debt. They don't like credit cards. They're right. In America, credit card debt is a huge anchor on the economy.

How else do you explain that it is only the very expensive (over-priced, I might add) places that seem to take cards.

" If you can, the bill of your stay will have to pay in cash."

I read that to be, 'cash preferred'. You may want to clarify with them if cash is 'preferred' vs 'required'. If the latter ask him where/how close a bank affiliated ATM is.

Pretty sceptical about the credit card fees theory myself.

In this day and age where so few people are using cash, you're doing it wrong as a business owner if you can't cover card fees as an overhead.

I'm certainly not assisting a complete stranger (the business owner) to evade tax. Taxes are an important part of maintaining the structural integrity of a functional society, whether you like it or not, imho.

Anyway, the OP's lodgings are giving them the option. It's a wee bit lost in translation from French to English though.

Thank you everyone for your replies-I've read all of them and I feel a lot better about the situation. I think I understand the reason behind it and it makes sense. I'm just a paranoid person by nature and I'd never come across that request before-but I haven't traveled as much overseas. Like a previous poster said, I will ask where would be the nearest atm as I don't want to travel with the cash beforehand. And I just pay when I check out, correct?

Shelley

And I just pay when I check out, correct?

Definitely a question for the landlord

Paying in cash or asked to do that specifically happened to me in Paris in a 2 star hotel in 2023.

The total bill for 6 nights amounted to 600 Euro. The clerk only accepted 300 to be put on the cc., the rest in cash if I wanted this cheap rate. I had the cash on me right then and there, handed over the 300 Euro even though in doing so this little transaction had drained over 90% of the Euro cash I had brought along.

Asked to pay in cash had never happened to me in France, only in Germany, which was readily done.

I think Germany's been a little bit of a hold out in the move to the majority of the population going cashless, or almost cashless. Most other places I'd consider it highly sus to insist on cash these days. Much more so than it was even ten years ago. For all my pontificating about paying tax, whether it's Jeff Bezos or an anonymous Bayeux B&B owner, I'm not a grass. It's their business how they manage their affairs at the end of the day.

I really could not be bothered with knocking around trying to get hundreds of Euros from a machine in semi-rural France, just so someone can fiddle their accounts and not pay their share though. Not going to do that, or be complicit in someone someone doing that. It's not how people take payment for things these days unless they're up to something.

ATMs are everywhere. There are for the convenience of locals and not the tourist trade. I have never looked for an ATM. I just know that in my moving around in any day, I will see several ATMs. And some places may want payment at check-in. Don't get paranoid because business practices in Europe are different than what you might encounter in the US. Every difference is not automatically a scam.

ATMs are everywhere.

That wasn't my point at all though. It's many years since I had to stand at an ATM (cash machine here) and withdraw hundreds. I'm certainly not doing it for the dubious accounting benefits it might give to a complete stranger. Can't be bothered with that.

Don't get paranoid because business practices in Europe are different than what you might encounter in the US. Every difference is not automatically a scam.

You see my location, right?

Of course I don't think it's a scam. I know there will be a selection of ATMs in the town centre of Bayeux. I'm just not up for making the effort to help someone run their business in a way I don't like.

In France, very few B&Bs or guesthouses are equipped with a credit card payment terminal because only businesses, professionals, or associations are authorized to rent such terminals, and barely 10% of B&B owners are professionals with business status.

Furthermore, all French customers can pay by bank check, which has always been the most common payment method for this type of expense (in addition to holiday vouchers provided by employers).

So, as Frank said, every difference is not automatically a scam.

Honestly, I don't think it's a scam. My assumption is that a request for cash is usually an excuse to not put earnings through the books and evade tax. Maybe it's less common for the reasons you mention JoLui, but my first thought is that anyone asking for cash these days is doing it because they're on the fiddle. What you're telling me reduces the odds of that. I'm maybe applying what it's like in the UK and Ireland, and many other European countries, to this situation in France somewhat heavy-handedly.

Like I said, it's literally their business and they can run it how they choose. I just don't want to help out if I think they are cooking the books alongside the filet mignon at dinner time. I think that generally folks should make their best effort to pay what they owe in tax as a matter of principle. That may stop me staying at a particular lodging, unless it was the only place in town possibly, and I had no choice.

Still, yeah, quite (in)convenient they "haven't got access to a card machine" because they can't do it without having any small business status. How interesting. Must be a bummer for them having many of their transactions in cash in an increasingly cashless / contactless world I'm sure.

I'm certainly not assisting a complete stranger (the business owner) to evade tax.

You have repeated this in every one of your posts on this thread in one form or another. With no discernible proof, that I can see. Just conjecture, with no concern that you are casting aspersions on a small business owner who cannot reply for themselves. And refusing to consider that a small time operator of a B&B might consider the transaction fees of credit cards to be too onerous. I would be much more inclined to believe the explanation of JoLui than to automatically assume the worst with no proof. Something about giving someone the benefit of the doubt, or innocent until proven guilty springs to mind.

We've been asked to pay in cash in many small hotels, b&bs, gites, and zimmers over the years. Concern over possible tax evasion was never one of our concerns, nor was it any of our business.

You have repeated this in every one of your posts on this thread in one form or another

I'm sorry. I'm just riffing on the principle more so than the actual facts here. We have no idea who the B&B owner is, and I'm glad the OP hasn't named them, because I've been quite tough arguing a point. (Repeatedly. Sorry!)

It's worth expending a few words on the internet about as a topic anyway I think. I hope I haven't annoyed anyone too much. I'm really meh about paying for anything in cash these days. I just feel anyone running a business like this, no matter how small, isn't living in 2026. Any talk about tax etc. is just talk. I don't know what people are doing. I can usually sus things out according to the way I know how things go in the real world though.

I'm maybe applying too much of the attitude I'd be taking with the UK's access to a card machine when they're running a business. I'm maybe not being sensitive enough to the situation in hand and how things operate in France. It's more a principle thing. I've definitely taken what JoLui said on board too.

Anyway, yeah, to go back to OP, if you read what they wrote, the person is giving you the option, only in slightly broken English. Card or no card is definitely in there the way I read it. What do they mean "if you can"?

As I said upthread, we encounter this quite a bit in Italy. When it first came up, my husband and I just assumed it was the "underground economy". But, we've discussed this a few times with the hotel owners and BnBs, several expressly said, that even though the receipts are cash, they do include them for taxes. Many said that it is easier to deal with cash, and also cited credit card fees.

Its not just Italy, either. We've encountered places that wanted a direct bank transfer or something like WISE. At least a third or maybe even half of the places we are staying in Ireland this fall want cash. Many of the places we stay only have 3-8 rooms or so. I can understand that credit cards are just not something they care to deal with.

Over the years too I have been asked to pay in cash even though one time the Visa logo was still on the front door. The first time I saw that was in Berlin in 2009. When asked by the proprietor to pay cash after she saw the cc in my hand, I automatically said , Sure. but thought , isn't this what is called " bait and switch? " If so, so what; from 2009 for the next 10 years I was a regular customer in the Pension until she decided to retire in 2019.

In Germany both exist, which I've seen in the last couple of years, cashless hotels, eg, one 3 star located opposite of Frankfurt Hbf, and those establishments, restaurants, eateries, small hotels still taking only cash...bravo. That will continue.

Legally, in France the only method of payment that owners are required to accept is cash. They can refuse credit card and bank check payments. However, in all cases, they are required to provide an invoice

As for what the owner declares to the tax authorities, that’s another story which in my opinion is none of the traveler's business.

In Italy it is illegal for a business to refuse card payments and insist on cash. This is because tax evasion is very high in Italy and they’re trying to do something about it. This has been the case since 2022.

I have been asked to pay in cash for Airbnb type places occasionally but it always comes with a discount for me as well. I accept. I have never been asked to pay cash at a hotel. I would find that very strange.

Most places I stay in Germany are paid in cash. I believe that is because they are so small that they don’t want to be bothered with credit card companies for such few transactions. My favorite place has only 3 rooms and usually we are the only ones there. I don’t think it is for tax evading off the books purposes. For our first visits we are often asked for bank transfers in advance. Now, being known customers,, we are trusted to keep the reservation.

If they took a credit card guarantee, then they accept credit cards. Otherwise that guarantee wouldn't have any value for them, as they could not charge your card for a no-show if they didn't accept cards in the first place. The lack of clarity in the message about whether cash is required, or just preferred, looks to me like the latter but phrased by an innkeeper whose English is not perfectly fluent. It is certainly quite common for some businesses to prefer cash for good reasons (avoiding the fees) as well as potentially more nefarious (tax evasion); some stands at my local farmer's market in Virginia say that too, and many others increasingly do that in a different way, by charging credit card customers an additional fee of a couple percent. The IRS, for example, does that if you use a credit card to pay your taxes. Regarding payment up front rather than at the end of your stay, lodging that is truly cash only (doesn't accept cards) may understandably often ask for payment in advance, at least on a night by night basis, to mitigate any risk of you skipping out on your bill. But if they accept cards and have your number (which they do, as you say), then they have hedged that risk as they could charge your card if you left without paying a cash bill, so they should be willing to settle up when you check out, if that is more convenient for you.

And it's not just small businesses in the travel industry that try to avoid credit card fees, but big ones too, although policies vary as they try to balance cost saving with customer convenience. Examples: Rick Steves accepts credit cards for their tours without apparent additional fee; so does Road Scholar, but they are upfront about asking customers if they would please pay by direct bank payment instead, to reduce their costs and help keep their prices lower overall; Overseas Adventure Travel takes a card for the initial deposit, and also for final balance payment, but for the latter they charge an additional fee if you use a credit card instead of bank transfer, and in addition, the significant discount they usually offer for early payment in full doesn't apply if you use a credit card. Of course a direct electronic bank transfer isn't quite the same thing as handing over actual hard cash, but fiscally it's identical in terms of being a monetary transaction involving immediate payment between buyer and seller without going through the middleman credit card company.

Card fees charged to the merchant are limited by EU law to a maximum of 0.3% for credit cards and 0.2% for debit cards. It's against the law to charge more to the consumer to use cards over cash.

Sounds like a small B&B type place? I would give the guy a break and pay in cash when you get there.

Card fees charged to the merchant are limited by EU law to a maximum of 0.3% for credit cards and 0.2% for debit cards.

Yes, but if I use a US Visa card, is it not a 3 or 4% ? Can someone tell me?

I notice that some European websites won't accept my US Mastercard, is that why?

And I'm sorry to see a number of folks assuming everyone who takes cash is a crook. I do not feel that way. I'm glad most of you don't.

Yes, but if I use a US Visa card, is it not a 3 or 4% ? Can someone tell me?

A Google search tells me it's between 1.5% and 3% charged to a merchant for a non-EU card transaction actually. Good catch. I didn't know that until I looked it up just now.

Still, yeah, an overhead in my book.

I'm sorry to see a number of folks assuming everyone who takes cash is a crook.

Not everyone, but there's an undeniable correlation between tax evasion and asking specifically to be paid in cash.

The fee is higher for AMEX. While many, including myself, think the credit card % should be overhead, a cost of doing business, more and more merchants, hotels, etc. are passing it on to the consumer. Its hard to escape the fee.

Theoretically, if the proprietor asks me to pay in cash or said that cash is what he would prefer even if his establishment had the Visa/MC logo displayed , I would comply...gladly, no problem, assuming I had the amount on me.

Not my business to ask why, ie, why should I, and not my concern, besides paying cash I'm doing him a favour regarding the cc fee.

Some of the unfounded accusations of wrongdoing on this thread are unfortunate.

Jolui and I are on the same page about the business model and cash. I’d gladly pay in cash for the pleasure of staying in a small family-run bed and breakfast, and don’t find it unusual. In Italy, it’s a receipt that is obligatory, not plastic. We paid cash for a 10% discount at a RS recommended hotel in Milan last summer…and got a receipt.

For all the naysayers, there are plenty of Ibis hotels that take plastic.

You can of course pay cash in Italy but it’s illegal to not accept card payments and insist on cash only.

We paid cash for a 10% discount at a RS recommended hotel in Milan last summer…

That would count as illegal under EU law too in theory, as I alluded to in a post somewhere up above. A discount for cash effectively means a charge for card use.

Some of the unfounded accusations of wrongdoing on this thread are unfortunate.

If you mean the stuff I've been saying, it's a bit much to call it "unfounded". Of course what I'm saying has foundation. Tax evasion is the primary reason for taking cash in business in this day and age. It's naïve to think otherwise. It's just your threshold for being complicit in someone being "at it", as I would say in my Scottish vernacular. My opinion anyway.

Not my business to ask why

I agree. I wouldn't consider doing that. It's just like if I go to the car boot sale down in Romford on Sunday. I'm not going to ask why the nice used Makita and DeWalt drills and impact guns are on sale at such good prices. I'm not going to buy a drill from a car boot sale either though. I've got a pretty good idea what's going on with absolutely no proof, just enough savvy to inform me how the world works to make a judgement for myself. I don't really want to be a part of it, even though a pro drill would be good for jobs around the house. The same but different situation to me.

I'm not getting on my moral high horse here. I used to pay the mechanic who worked on my old cars for years in cash so he didn't need to put it through his books. I was never asked to do that though. Never talked about it. I just did it as a favour. That was well over ten years ago. I can't imagine doing that with anyone now. Business is different to how it was a decade or two ago.

Gerry, you are being naive in the extreme if you believe the main reason for cash transactions is tax evasion, even in the UK.

It is helping out struggling businesses, to avoid another overhead. And I live in a town with only 1 bank left.

Please don't come to where I live with your views. Bluntly you aren't welcome, making your insinuations, and deaf to being thoughtful in your dealings.

What did surprise me last Sunday was seeing a little refreshment stand on Platforms 10/11 at York Station which was cash preferred.

Please don't come to where I live with your views. Bluntly you aren't welcome, making your insinuations, and deaf to being thoughtful in your dealings.

Where do you live exactly? I want to come just out of spite now you've said that so fruitily. Not bringing any cash :)

I'm allowed to have an opinion mate. Maybe I've had different life experiences to you. I think I may have. You're welcome to your opinion too of course. You're welcome in Hackney any time btw. We take all sorts here :)

The post is very helpful overall, as I haven't encountered this before. I stay in hotels not B&Bs. However, at one point I was tentatively planning a trip to Greece and the family-run hotel asked me for cash upon arrival. I never made it there because I changed my trip plans.

I stayed in a hotel in Bayeux which took credit cards.

Personally, I don't want to pay for accommodations in cash. If cash were noted on their website or at booking, I wouldn't have booked the place in the first place and would have found another accommodation. I'm a single woman traveling solo and I'm not comfortable withdrawing large sums of money from an ATM.

One possible issue is that the ATM might have a withdrawal limit. If the B&B cost is 600 Euro, what if the ATM doesn't allow this much to be withdrawn at once? I don't want to travel with this much cash.

I'm not getting on my moral high horse here.

It sure feels otherwise. With your ten replies so far (I'm sure there will be more), you keep repeating the same accusations and explaining why your morals make you refuse to participate in this common practice. We get it. You can't get down from your soapbox now.

Yeah you get my point by now. Fair enough. I found it quite an interesting discussion. It was fun learning about others' opinions and beliefs on the matter, even if I have over-egged the pudding a little in putting forward my point of view. Thanks to everyone that has taken the time to engage.

In terms of carrying cash around, we really don't. We stayed at a great place in Venice for four nights and I think we paid almost 1000euros. We just got the cash from an ATM the day of payment. Easy. Then we turned it over to the BnB owner shortly there after.

Honestly, if the country's equivalent of the IRS doesn't see that money is received by a business advertising publicly, they'd be pretty stupid. It would be quite easy to estimate the receipts.

Honestly, if the country's equivalent of the IRS doesn't see that money is received by a business advertising publicly, they'd be pretty stupid. It would be quite easy to estimate the receipts.

Without suggesting that any particular business is evading taxes, this statement is true but needs to be augmented. Certainly tax authorities have means by which they can estimate the revenue of cash-only businesses, but whether it makes sense for them to employ them for a small business is another matter. The juice usually isn't worth the squeeze, as my Texas cattleman friend used to say.

My suspicion is that tax enforcement in France is maybe more effective in France than in the US. I say this because I'm becoming aware of the reporting and oversight that awaits me as a new entrepreneur there. Yikes! So I'm less concerned about cash payments as tax avoidance in France than in most other countries.

@jphbucks, I'm not sure why you would make the assumption that tax enforcement in the U.S. is less effective than in France. My point was in regard to all countries, really. If a person/accommodation is operating, regardless of country, and not reporting or undereporting revenues and advertising publicly, you'd think at some point the IRS or its equivalent would catch on.

Hello again-this has been an interesting discussion with some strong opinions on the matter! I appreciate everyone's feedback and views on the subject, I have definitely learned a lot. My husband and I are leaving on Monday for our trip. First Colmar, then Bayeaux and Paris. It should be interesting and I'm looking forward to it. I'm honestly on the fence about whether I will pay cash or credit card. We will play it by ear and see how it goes.
Thanks,
Shelley