Seven million French properties risk fine under new declaration rule
Many owners have still not completed the obligatory Biens Immobiliers. The deadline was June 30
All of France's 71 million plus properties should have been declared
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More than 7.5 million properties - accounting for almost 10% of all those in France - have yet to see their owners complete an obligatory new declaration to the tax authorities under a rule brought in last year.
Owners who fail to make this declaration could face a fine.
All of France’s 34 million property owners – who between them own more than 71 million properties – are required to complete the Biens Immobiliers, or property declaration form.
This declaration requires information about how the property is used - whether it is a main or second home or is rented out, for example, as well as its size, general condition and features.
The information is used by Direction générale des finances publiques (DGFiP) tax authorities to update its data about the property and to determine what property taxes may be due.
This is especially pertinent after the taxe d’habitation ended for all main homes in France and is now only levied on second homes.
The declaration should have been completed in 2024 by people who either did not correctly fill out the form in 2023 or who own / owned a property which had seen its situation change.
Owners are then expected to update the details every time there is a change in the property’s status, such as new tenants in a rented property or if they move full-time to a second home and thus change its status to principal residence.
Read more: What changes require you to make new property declaration in France?
Read more: France's new property declaration form: 2024 rules and fines explained
However, tax officials state that 7.8 million properties have not been declared either in 2023 or 2024, reports media outlet Ouest-France.
Owners risk a fine of €150 for each undeclared property.
2024 deadline has passed
The deadline to submit the form – which could either be completed online via your personal space on the French tax website, or in 2024 via a paper form from local authorities – was June 30.
The deadline was extended several times in 2023, however this year it remained firmly fixed, with authorities saying that if the date was delayed, property tax notices may not arrive in time or be wrong.
If there is no information held by the authorities about a property they may believe it to be a second home and send a taxe d’habitation bill, which may not be correct.
If this happens – as was the case last year for thousands of homeowners – the tax authorities should be informed as soon as possible and they will be able to rectify the issue.
If you did not complete the declaration this year but you were supposed to, French media including consumer awareness website Merci pour l’info report that you can still ask your local tax office for a paper form, and submit a late declaration. It can also be completed online.
No €150 fines were handed out in 2023 as it was seen as an informative year but the fiscal authorities said they would levy fines this year.
However they have previously stated they would not issue fines in cases where the person who did not declare had acted in ‘good faith’, and this may extend to those who submit a declaration late.
If you need help to fill it out please refer to our article here, where we covered the points of confusion in late June:
Read more: French second-home tax errors: How to know if overpaid and what to do
