Notaire fees expected to increase in summer 2025 in France
Local councils look towards increase as source of funding
First-time buyers will not be affected by the increases
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An increase on notaire’s fees is likely to come into force next summer after changes to the 2025 budget were announced by prime minister Michel Barnier.
The amendment allows for droits de mutation à titre onéreux (DMTO, but more commonly known as notaire fees) applicable to property purchases to rise by 0.5%.
It means that for a property of €300,000 notaire’s fees on a purchase will increase from around €22,500 to €24,000.
Implementation is enacted at a departmental and not national level, however it is highly likely that all departments will implement the increase as it is a major source of local funding.
First-time buyers will be exempt from the increases and will see the fees remain at current levels according to French media outlet Le Journal de Dimanche (paywall article).
The government also announced earlier this month that a small additional tax on notaire’s fees - around €10 to €20 for most property purchases - will go towards a coastal erosion fund.
Read more: Small increase in notaire fees to boost French coastal erosion fund
Why did French local authorities push for the increase?
Despite the name the vast majority of ‘notaire’s fees’ are not retained by the notaire working on a property purchase.
They instead represent a series of additional taxes and costs which are additional to the base price of a property.
Read more: Explainer: Role of notaire in France and what to do if not happy
Much of the fee goes towards local funding and in some cases contribute up to 20% of all the funds a commune receives at a local level.
Otherwise communes receive the rest of their locally-sourced funding from property taxes (taxe d’habitation and taxe foncière).
The rest of their funding (around 30%) comes directly from the government.
The government has called on local communities to undertake spending cuts of some €5 billion but groups such as the Association des maires de France say the cuts will reduce budgets by up to €10 billion.
Increasing notaire’s fees is one means for local authorities to increase revenue without cutting services, potentially up to €1 billion.
Increased local funding from other sources seems unlikely. Authorities say that changes to taxe d’habitation has left them with a funding hole leading many to increase levies as much as possible on property taxes.
Read more: Thousands more French second homes face 2024 tax rises
However larger changes on how the taxes are calculated are dictated by government calculations on theoretical rental values over which local authorities do not have a say.
As with other amendments included in the budget an implementation of higher notaire fees is dependent on the budget passing before December 31.
This seems increasingly likely to be undertaken via the controversial article 49.3 and not via a parliamentary vote, which the article allows the government to bypass.
Read more: France’s 2025 budget will ‘probably’ be forced through without vote, says PM
