BDO Guernsey are warning owners of second homes in France, about the new French reporting requirements.
The ‘Taxe d’Habitation Reform’ is compulsory reporting for all French property owners and is due before July 2023.
The French Taxe d’Habitation (local occupiers’ rates) reform introduced within the 2020 Loi de Finances has progressively phased out the Taxe d’Habitation.
From 2023, this levy only applies to properties which are not used as a principal residence, and it is now labelled ‘Taxe d’Habitation sur les Résidences Secondaires et autres Locaux Meublées non affectés à l’Habitation Principale’ or ‘THRS’ acronym.
Certain specific local levies are maintained such as:
- The increased Taxe d’Habitation tariff for second homes in defined areas with low dwelling availability.
- Taxes sur les Logements Vacants or empty dwelling rates.
All French property owners must complete an online form before 1st July 2023 and update this every year where necessary. The information thereby reported will be used by the French administration to establish and manage the annual THRS and empty dwelling rates.
The form is accessible on the impots.gouv.fr website in the ‘gérer mes biens immobiliers’ section. Omissions, errors, or insufficient reporting may trigger a €150 penalty per building. Landlords need to state the following details to successfully complete the filing for each property they own noting that this extends to certain ancillary buildings, garages etc:
- Personal or third parties’ occupation.
- A description of the property’s use: main or secondary residence, rented furnished or unfurnished, occupation by a third party free of charge, vacant (unfurnished and unoccupied) etc.
- The occupier’s identity, for individuals the form requires their full name and date of birth and for companies or other legal entities the registered name and SIREN.
- The length of the lease or property occupation and any changes, specifying the end and start dates of each new lease and the identity of new tenants/occupants.
- For seasonal rentals, landlords need to state the start of the rental period, property management details (directly or through a rental management contract excluding any personal use, manager’s identity, and SIREN for businesses and whether the property is registered as a ‘meublé de tourisme classé’.
- Monthly rent excluding charges (optional).
