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TAXES

What’s the penalty for failing to file France’s new property tax declaration?

French tax authorities recently issued a new required property tax declaration, here is what you need to know about the potential penalty for failing to file it.

Published: 7 February 2023 09:28 CET
What's the penalty for failing to file France's new property tax declaration?
The word "Impots" (Taxes) is seen on top of euro banknotes in Lille on August 25, 2014. (Photo by PHILIPPE HUGUEN / AFP)

French tax authorities have threatened to issue fines of up to €150 for those property owners fail to fill submit the new compulsory tax return.

Property owners in France have until June 30th, 2023 to file the new return, which specifies whether the property in question is a primary or secondary residence.

How much is the fine?

It is set to a fixed amount of €150 per property according to the French Public Service website.

Under what circumstances could I be fined?

You can be fined if you fail to submit the declaration prior to June 30th. You can also be fined if the declaration is found to be erroneous, incomplete, or missing information.

When could the fine be issued?

The fine would only be issued after June 30th – the final date to file the tax declaration – if tax authorities do not receive the form by the deadline.

How can I fill out my declaration?

If you live in France and already make your annual tax declaration online then this process should be fairly easy – head to impots.gouv.fr, log in and then click on Biens immobiliers (“Real Estate”) in the menu bar along the top of the website.

You will then be directed to the “Manage my real estate” service of the site which will then list the property or properties in your name, and you can fill out the déclaration d’occupation for each, stating whether it is your main residence or a second home.

The Local has put together a guide to the new tax declaration and how to fill it out here.

READ MORE: France brings in new tax declaration for property-owners

If you have any questions or difficulties in completing the declaration, you can contact the help phone number at 0 809 401 401 – keep in mind that the operator may only speak French, so if you are worried about your language level you may want to ask for assistance from a proficient French speaker.

You can also reach out to the tax authorities using the secure messaging system on the Impôts.Gouv.fr website. The page “J’ai une question sur le service Biens immobiliers” (“I have a question about the Real Estate department”) will allow you to send messages and ask questions, albeit in French.

You can also find the location of your local tax office here. 

The new tax declaration applies to anyone who owns property in France – whether it is their main residence or a second home – including those who live in another country. If you do not own property and only rent your home, then this does not concern you.

Keep in mind that the tax return is not an extra tax, it’s simply an extra piece of paperwork that has to be filled in, known as a Déclaration d’occupation, and this declaration is concerned with whether the property is your main residence or a second home.

The document will be required this year because of recent changes to the property tax system. There are two types of property tax in France; taxe foncière which is paid by the property owner and taxe d’habitation which is paid by the property occupier. If you own your home home, traditionally you paid both.

READ MORE: UPDATE: New French property tax declaration – your questions answered

However, taxe d’habitation is in the process of being scrapped for most people, and now only high-earners and second-home owners pay it. The problem is that the tax office don’t have a record of whether a property is used as a main home or a second home and therefore don’t know who to send bills to – hence the new declaration.

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For members

LIVING IN FRANCE

Why nearly 2 million addresses in France are set to change

Hundreds of thousands of home addresses across France are set to change due to a new law that is coming into force that means no more nameless roads in French villages.

Published: 6 May 2024 15:21 CEST
Why nearly 2 million addresses in France are set to change

Officials of villages in France with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants have until June 1st to fill out a government website with updated information about street names and house numbers, which includes naming roads that were previously nameless.

The changes are a result of the 3Ds law – so-called because it relates to Différenciation, Décentralisation, Déconcentration – which was adopted in 2022, and requires communes to allocate formal addresses to houses on the estimated 200,000 or so streets with no name.

Until this law, smaller communes had not been obliged to name individual roads, or number individual houses, giving rise to some interesting addresses – that are more like descriptions – in some hamlets.

From June 1st, however, ‘house with green door after the bakery by the church’ will no longer be acceptable as an address. Good news for property owners who have had trouble getting packages delivered.

How common are unnamed streets in France?

There are plenty. According to La Poste, there were about 1.8 million French households had no exact formal address at the end of 2023 – a figure that’s down from 3.5 million in 2017.

In all, it said, 20,000 of France’s 34,000 or so municipalities had at least one unnamed road. As recently as February, more than half of local authorities with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants still had to update their database.

Communes with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants had, until now, no obligation to name streets, or even squares. From June 1st, all roads must have a name; and all properties must be numbered. 

Most of the time, a lack of street name in a hamlet is unproblematic. Everyone knows everyone in smalltown France, and postal workers know their areas well. But, in emergency situations, for example, it can be an issue.

Under the 3Ds law, communes have to deliver their ‘local address database’ – which in turn populates a national database – by June 1st, 2024. This has been known about for a while, giving communes time to agree any new street names.

What does it mean for people living in these areas?

There’s a bit of admin work coming your way, if you live in a currently unnumbered house on one of the currently unnamed streets.

Once your street has a name and your house a number, you will have to tell any employers, utility suppliers, telephone operators et cetera that your address has been updated. You may also have to update any ID cards or residency permits. How and when you do this is up to you.

But I like my ‘lieu-dit’ address!

It’s okay. There was some early confusion for some mayors, but lieu-dit – which simply means locality – addresses are fine. The rule of thumb is if emergency services can find it quickly and easily, an address is good. 

In future, rather than your address being “Lieu-dit Les Essarts”, the address will change to “[house number and street name], Lieu-dit Les Essarts”.

Do I have a say in my street’s name and house number, then?

No. That would be a local authority matter. But you could end up with an unexpected property number, depending on where you live. This is because the database is intended to help emergency services and delivery companies find a particular address easily.

If you live in splendid isolation in the only house on a one-lane road that’s a kilometre after the crossroads, you may find your house is number 1,000 – because your property is 1,000m up the road.

This is going to get expensive, isn’t it?

It won’t be as pricey as first feared. Under original plans, local authorities were obliged to pay for street signs and house numbers, but the house number requirement has been dropped, and it’s up to local mairies to decide how many street signs are necessary.

However, if you want to arrange a house number for yourself, be aware that the mairie can dictate what it looks like, so that all properties remain in keeping with the village’s rural aesthetic. 

READ MORE: How to get planning permission for your French property

Who can access the database?

Anyone. The database is in open data format. Public and private entities will use it to find your property to deliver goods and services – everything from parcels and letters, to connecting properties to the fibre network, and getting to you in an emergency.

The data available is limited to house number, street name and commune. No other information will be available, or required, as this law refers only to the location of a building.

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