Do I have to claim exemption from the taxe foncière?

There are several rules regarding exemption from this tax which we explain below.

Total exemption

To clarify, exemption is not given due to age alone - there are two criteria - age and income.

Age: You must be 75 or more on January 1, 2017

Income: The net household income (revenu fiscal de référence) figure on your income tax statement (avis d’imposition), which should be issued soon for the 2016 tax year, should be no more than €10,708 if you live alone or €16,426 for a couple (this can be higher if others live with you).

Exemption will also only apply if you were living alone on January 1 or with a spouse or other dependants (or with people entitled to the exemption in their own right, or otherwise with people whose own incomes do not exceed the limits mentioned above).

Apart from people aged 75 or more, the exemption also applies, under the same income conditions, to people in receipt of the Allocation aux adultes handicapés (of any age) and, without income requirements, to those who receive the Aspa pension top-up benefit or Allocation supplémentaire d’invalidité.

People aged 65 to 74 are entitled to a reduction of €100 if their income was within the amounts specified above.

Exemptions are usually applied automatically although, if in doubt, you could remind your tax office of your entitlement. For a second home it may be necessary to specifically ask for it.

Those who benefited last year from an exemption due to meeting income thresholds may continue to benefit from two further years and then two years of lowered tax even if their income rose over the limits on this year’s avis.

Partial exemption

This applies if the tax represents more than half of your income and applies only to a main residence. It caps the amount of the tax to half your income. This benefit has to be claimed within three years of the year of the tax being due.

The Connexion welcomes queries and regularly publishes a selection with answers.
However, please note that we cannot enter into individual correspondence on money topics. Queries may be edited for length and style. Due to the sensitive nature of topics we do not publish full names or addresses on these pages.
Send your financial queries to news@connexionfrance.com

The information in this article is of general nature. You should not act or refrain from acting on it without taking professional advice on the specific facts of your case. No liability is accepted in respect of these articles. These articles are intended only as a general guide. Nothing herein constitutes actual financial advice.