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More owners will pay French empty home tax in December 2024
The criteria for charging the taxe sur les logements vacants (TLV) were extended last year
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Explained: 2024 inheritance tax for family members in France
Any bill also depends on the amount left and the nature of the assets
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When do I have to start filing for tax in France?
Tax declarations are linked to residency
What happens if inheritance debts outweigh assets in France?
Barbara Heslop of Heslop & Platt answers a reader query on succession options for French residents leaving estate to UK family
Reader question: We are French residents and want to plan our succession to leave our estate to family in the UK. What happens if taxes and other liabilities are more than the value of the estate? Is there an option to defer tax obligations until the point of sale if our house was put on the market?
One of the first steps in any succession is to establish assets and liabilities in the estate. This enables the beneficiaries to make an informed decision as to which of the following succession options they wish to choose, if French law is applying:
Where a person’s estate includes a house in France, a notaire must be involved.
Their fees are usually in the region of 7% of the value of the estate.
Most of their fees are fixed by statute, so your beneficiaries should be able to confirm at the outset what the legal fees will be.
If there are not sufficient liquid assets in the estate from which beneficiaries can pay their inheritance tax liability, they can seek agreement from the French tax office to pay in instalments over a period of up to three years.
The tax office will usually require some form of guarantee, which could be by way of a registered charge over the house in France.
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