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PROPERTY

The French tax deadlines to remember this autumn

Autumn is here, and in France that means it's time to start thinking about taxes. There are three types of tax due on the horizon, and most people who live in France or own property here will owe at least one of them. These are the dates you need to remember.

Published: 15 September 2021 11:42 CEST
Updated: 19 September 2021 09:17 CEST
The French tax deadlines to remember this autumn
Photo: Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP.

Property tax

All property owners in France must pay the taxe foncière (property tax), even if the property is being rented out to tenants. Depending on your situation, your bill should either be available since August 30th or from September 20th. You should receive this either in the post, or online with an email informing you once it’s available.

The deadline is October 15th if you chose to pay by mail, or October 20th for those who prefer to pay online.

If you have previously set up to pay in installments then you shouldn’t need to do anything, but just check that all your info is still up to date.

Residence tax

The French government has been gradually scrapping the taxe d’habitation, and 80 percent of French households no longer need to pay it on their primary residence. However, until 2023, higher earners will still continue paying this additional tax. You can find out whether you qualify for an exemption here.

The residence tax will also continue to apply to second homes, even beyond 2023.

READ ALSO The French tax calendar for 2021 – which taxes are due when?

If you are not exempt, you need to pay by November 15th, or if you have chosen to pay online or in monthly installments you have until November 20th. If you want to pay in monthly installments, you have until October 31st to register.

TV licence fee

If you have a home in France with a TV, regardless of whether you own the property or are simply renting, you are likely to have to pay the redevance télé. Officially it’s called the contribution à l’audiovisuel public, because it funds several different types of public audiovisual organisation: France Télévisions, Arte-France, Radio France, RFO, RFI, and INA.

In some cases you may be exempt from paying the TV licence fee – including if you are over 60, living alone, and your income does not exceed a certain ceiling – you can see the conditions here.

If you do not have a TV, and instead watch on your laptop, tablet or smartphone, you do not need to pay. However if you’re watching on TV you will have to pay, even if you don’t watch any French channels.

Second-home owners also pay the TV licence fee.

In metropolitan France it costs €138, and is usually sent out with the residence tax, even if you no longer have to pay the taxe d’habitation you are still likely to have to pay the licence fee.

The deadlines are the same, meaning it is due on November 15th, or November 20th if you pay online or in installments. If you do not receive a bill in October, you may fall under a second wave of payments set for mid-December, but it’s worth checking your account on the impots.gouv website to make sure your bill has not gone astray.

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For members

TAXES

Explained: France’s exit tax

Planning on leaving France? You may, depending on your circumstances, be charged the 'exit tax'.

Published: 11 April 2024 11:28 CEST
Explained: France's exit tax

Like some other European countries, France does have an exit tax for those (French or foreign) who are leaving the country. It’s known by the English name l’Exit tax.

However, it won’t affect most people.

Only those who have been tax resident for a minimum six years of the 10 years immediately before they permanently move out of the country are liable to pay an exit tax – if, that is, they own property, titles or rights worth a minimum of €800,000, or that represent 50 percent of a company’s social profits.

If that affects you, the best advice is to seek expert individual financial advice before moving out of France for good. The relevant page on the French government’s impot.gouv.fr website says it is possible to defer payments, and some relief is available.

Because of the relatively high figures involved, this tax is irrelevant for most people. That said, however, you will still have to inform tax authorities that you are moving out of the country because you may still have income, property and capital gains taxes to pay.

Income tax

You must inform the tax office that you are moving and give them your new address so that your tax declarations can be transferred to your new address.

You are liable for tax on everything you earned in France prior to your departure as well as on any French earnings that are taxable in France under international tax treaties that you earned after your departure.

The year of your departure, you declare your previous year’s earnings as normal – declarations in spring 2024 are for earnings in 2023.

A year later, you will have to declare any earnings taxable in France from January 1st up to the date of your departure, and any French-sourced income taxable source until December 31st of the year of your departure.

If you continue to have any French-sourced income – such as from renting out a French property – you will have to declare that income annually, using the non-residents declaration form.

Property taxes

You will have property taxes to pay if you own a French property on January 1st of any given year – whether it is occupied or not. 

Property tax bills come out in the autumn, but they refer to the situation on January 1st of that year, so even if you sell your property you will usually have the pay a final property tax bill the following year.

Moreover, if you receive income from property in France or have rights related to that property (such as shared ownership or stock in property companies), as well as any additional revenue connected to the property, during the year you leave France, you will be required to pay taxes on these earnings.

If any property assets in France exceed €1.3 million on January 1st of a given year, you may also have to pay the wealth tax (IFI).

READ ALSO What is France’s wealth tax and who pays it?

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Capital gains tax 

If you sell your French property or share of a French property, you may be liable for capital gains tax at a rate of 19 percent. It will also be subject to social security contributions at the overall rate of 17.2 percent.

Capital gains tax varies depending on how long you have owned the property and whether it was a second home or your main residence.

READ ALSO How much capital gains tax will I have to pay if I sell my French property?

The good news is, if you move to another EU country, or any country that has a specific tax agreement with France, you may be exempt from capital gains tax for non-resident sellers on the sale of a property that was your principal residence in France.

If you move elsewhere, you may be able to claim exemption on capital gains tax up to €150,000. As always, you should seek expert financial advice.

Tell Social Security

Inform social security that you are leaving France permanently – and return your carte vitale if you have one. If you do not, you may be liable for any benefits you receive to which you are no longer entitled.

More mundane tasks involve informing utility and water companies, your internet provider, if you have one, the phone company, your insurance companies, banks – and La Poste, who will be able to forward your mail for up to 12 months, for a fee…

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