French Tax obligations guide

If you own rental property in France, you need to file an annual tax return called “déclaration de revenus”.
Depending on whether your property is a furnished or unfurnished rental, your may need to file more than one return.

If you have furnished rental property, chances are that you have an accountant that takes care of all the administrative procedures for that activity.

However, the return that your accountant files for your furnished rental is not sufficient, you also need to file a personal return, between May and June of each year.

The same goes for unfurnished rental, which needs to be declared each year in a French personal tax return.

Please note that even if your French rental income has been declared in your country of residence, it still needs to be declared in France, and penalties can be added if your returns are late or nonexistent.

Our tax lawyers can help you file your french annual returns.

Wealth tax or “IFI”

If your french real estate property is worth more than 1.3 million euros, you should probably check that you are up to date with your tax returns.

In France, an additional annual tax is paid on the net value of property exceeding 1.300.000 euros.

And when we say “value”, we don’t mean the price that you bought your property for, but an updated market value (i.e. the actual price that you could sell it for, reviewed each year)…

Some liabilities can be deducted, such as property tax (“taxe foncière”) or any outstanding capital on loans attached to the property.

If you are unsure whether you should declare “IFI”, or more generally have any questions on the subject, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Local taxes : “taxe foncière”, “taxe d’habitation”, etc.

Owning or using property in France also comes with its’ share of local taxes.

“Taxe foncière”, or property tax, is paid annually for any property owned on January the 1st of each period.

“Taxe d’habitation”, or housing tax can also be due if you had the ability to use your property at any time during the year.
This tax does not apply to properties that were rented out during the whole year or on your primary place of residence.

“CFE”, or company real estate contribution is also due if your property is a furnished rental.

All of these additional taxes are calculated differently depending on the locality of your property, and have various factors of exemption, that we would be happy to discuss with you.

When you sell your property, capital gain tax can be retained with different calculations depending on your status.

Our in-house Notary as well as our Tax lawyers are available to assist you for all formalities and questions pertaining to the sale of your French property.

VAT on rent

In some rare cases, your furnished or unfurnished rental can be subjected to VAT in France :

• If you rent your flat by commercial lease to an operator (tourism, student accommodation or senior living spaces);
• Or if you offer your flat for rental whilst proposing “parahôtelier” services.

Your VAT returns are filed by your Anderlaine accountant.

Occupancy report or “déclaration d’occupation”

Since 2023, the French tax administration has asked all property owners to file an annual occupancy report to register the status of their property (rented, empty, secondary residence, etc.).