All main and second-home owners in France must complete a ‘Biens immobiliers’ form or potentially face a fine.
All owners of property in France must make a new one-off online or phone declaration explaining how they use their property by June 30 2023.
This is to ensure tax offices have up-to-date information on how to tax them and thus avoid errors.
Failure to make this declaration by the deadline will result in a €150 fine.
The declaration must be completed for main and second homes, and properties that are rented out.
There are only exception for properties that are not assessable for taxe d’habitation or taxe sur les logements vacants – for example, if used by property professionals exclusively for renting out.
Apart from this, individual owners, SCI property ownership companies and people with usufruit (legal right of use) are all included. Owners must declare if the property is used as a main home or not, either in a dedicated part of their personal or business space on the tax site impots.gouv.fr or by phone.
The reason for the mandatory declaration is because the taxe d’habitation has been abolished for all main homes so the government want to make sure this is only levied on second homes and partly to avoid people who own more than one property giving the impression that, from one year to the next, both are main residences.
How to make you declaration
If you have an account at impots.gouv.fr, you should sign in and click on Biens immobiliers at the top. If you don’t have an account one will need to be created.
Property that has been declared to the tax office by a notaire after a purchase should already be listed with the note déclaration attendue
Property bought very recently may not be listed yet and you do not need to do anything.
You can click a button on your item to see information held on it, and another to start the declaration.
External buildings, garages, cellar and parking spaces
Any elements not physically attached to a house will be listed separately – for example, a garage at the end of the garden or a private parking space.
While compiling the declaration for a house it will be possible to declare other items (eg. a garage) that are used as part of your daily life at the property.
Describing the property
Surface area will be the real ‘wall-to-wall’ area, which may be more than the Loi Carrez area used in adverts.
The number of ‘rooms’ includes bathrooms and kitchens, not just bedrooms and living rooms.
Properties are given a fiscal category for appearance and construction from 8, ‘dilapidated and defective’ to 1, ‘sumptuous’.
One deemed ordinary and unremarkable will be 6.
If something is wrong, tell the tax office.
State how property is used
You must say who was living in or using the property on January 1, 2023 (and since then if it changed), if it is a main or second home, is rented out, provided free to someone, or vacant (meaning unused and also unfurnished, therefore not available to use).
If you rent it out, you must say if it was provided furnished or unfurnished or if it is used for short-term holiday lets (as opposed to an ordinary long-term lease as someone's home).
If you would like assistance completing this declaration please email verity@lbvimmo.com.
