Julian
Lawyer · Toulouse, France
- 117 cases handled
- 39+ years in practice
- Speaks: English, Spanish, German, French
- Law with Honours, Liverpool University
Property Tax for Foreign Owners in France
Advisers for foreign owners of property in France who want the yearly taxes understood and kept in order — taxe foncière, taxe d'habitation on a second home, the occupancy declaration, tax on rent and, for large estates, IFI.
About Property Tax for Foreign Owners in France
Property tax in France for non-residents and foreign owners — annual property tax, French property tax on a second home — means two local taxes: the taxe foncière, paid by every owner, and the taxe d'habitation sur les résidences secondaires, which has gone for main homes but still applies to second homes. Some older lists and lawyer pages call this service “Property Tax Service”. Around them sit the occupancy declaration, the income tax on rent and, for large estates, the wealth tax on property. This page is for owners of a house or flat in France who live elsewhere, or who use the home only part of the year.
The yearly picture
- Taxe foncière is owed by whoever owns the property at the start of the year. It is based on the cadastral rental value (valeur locative cadastrale) and the rates voted locally.
- Taxe d'habitation on a second home is owed for a furnished home that is not the occupant's main home. Towns with a housing shortage can add a surcharge (majoration).
- Empty homes in some towns pay the taxe sur les logements vacants instead.
- Occupancy declaration. Every owner, resident or not, tells the tax office who occupies each property through the online service Gérer mes biens immobiliers and updates it when that changes.
- Rent. Income from letting is declared in France to the tax office for non-residents; furnished and unfurnished lets are taxed under different regimes.
- IFI (impôt sur la fortune immobilière) applies to large property wealth; non-residents are taxed only on their French property.
Points to watch
Notices are issued online in the owner's account on the tax website, so an owner abroad without an account can miss them. A home let furnished all year, or used by family, may be in a different position for taxe d'habitation. After a purchase or a sale the records have to show the right owner, or the bills keep going to the wrong person. These taxes and their exemptions have changed several times; an adviser confirms the current ones.
What an adviser does
The lawyer or tax adviser sets up the owner's tax account, checks the notices and the declared use of the home, files the occupancy declaration and the income tax return for the rent, disputes wrong assessments and explains how the French and home-country taxes fit together. Selling has its own page, capital gains tax; holiday lets have their own rules, see holiday rental registration. The wider field is tax services.
Questions and answers
Do I pay property tax in France if I do not live there?
Yes. Taxe foncière is owed by the owner wherever the owner lives, and a second home usually also carries taxe d'habitation.
What is the difference between taxe foncière and taxe d'habitation?
Taxe foncière is the owner's tax on the property itself; taxe d'habitation is a tax on having a home available, now kept for second homes.
What is the occupancy declaration?
An online statement to the tax office saying whether each property is a main home, a second home, let or empty, and to whom.
Does the French wealth tax apply to non-residents?
Only the property part: IFI reaches non-residents whose French property, net of debts, is above the threshold.
France Property Tax for Non-Residents
Open the full tool →Estimate what a non-resident pays on a French home — the notary’s costs when buying, the yearly taxes, and the capital gains tax on a sale.
How it works
Using the calculator
- Choose what you want to work out: buying, owning or selling.
- Enter the figures the form asks for: the price and the département's rate; or the value of your French real estate and the rent; or the sale and purchase prices and the years you owned the home.
- Each tax and cost appears on its own line with how it is worked out, and the total below.
Buying
The "frais de notaire" of an existing home are mostly transfer duties: the département's rate — 5% in most of France since 2025, 4.50% in a few départements and for first-time buyers of their main home — plus 1.20% for the commune and a collection fee, about 6.32% in all. The notary's own fee follows a regulated scale (under 1% of a typical price, plus VAT), and a 0.10% land registry contribution is added. A new home bought from the developer has VAT in its price and pays a reduced duty of about 0.72%.
Owning
Every owner pays the taxe foncière, and a second home also the taxe d'habitation; both come from the cadastral rental value and the local rates, so the bill gives them. A non-resident whose French real estate is worth more than €1.3 million net pays the IFI wealth tax, 0.5% to 1.5% by band. Rent is taxed at the non-residents' minimum rate of 20% (30% on the part above about €29,600), after a flat 30% or 50% allowance, plus social charges of 17.2% (18.6% on furnished lets), or only 7.5% for people covered by an EU/EEA or Swiss social security.
Selling
A non-resident pays 19% income tax and 17.2% social charges (7.5% with an EU/EEA or Swiss social security) on the gain. The price paid is raised by 7.5% for the purchase costs and, after 5 years, 15% for works, without invoices. The gain is reduced for every year owned beyond the fifth: no income tax after 22 years, no social charges after 30. A taxable gain above €50,000 also pays a surtax of 2% to 6%. A lawyer checks the exemptions that may apply to you before you sign.
1Your details
Market value less the loans taken to buy it — for the IFI wealth tax
2Your result
| IFI (wealth tax on real estate)Not due: net French real estate up to €1,300,000 | €0 |
| Yearly taxes (estimate) | €0 |
- Taxe foncière (property tax) is due every year from the owner on 1 January: half the cadastral rental value times the rates of the commune and its grouping, plus the waste collection tax — the bill gives it; the values were raised by 0.8% for 2026.
- Taxe d'habitation is still due on a second home you can use on 1 January; in towns with a housing shortage the commune may add 5% to 60%.
An estimate for planning, not legal or tax advice. Figures checked 30 Oct 2026. Sources: DGFiP — transfer duty rates by département, 1 June 2026, BOFiP — transfer duties, the 5% raise and first-time buyers (BOI-ENR-DMTOI-10-20), Art. A444-91 Code de commerce — the notary's fee for a sale, DGFiP notice 2048-IMM (2026) — capital gains on real estate, BOFiP — the IFI scale and décote (BOI-PAT-IFI-40-10), impots.gouv — rental income of non-residents, DGFiP — the non-residents' taxation, 2025 income (minimum rate).
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