This will be the minimum property tax increase in 2025 in France
Actual bills are likely to increase by more in many communes
The increase is tied in part to inflation over the previous year
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Bills for France's local property tax – taxe foncière – are set to rise by at least 1.7% next year, significantly less than the previous two years.
The yearly movement in the property tax is in part tied to inflation over the previous year, specifically of the indice des prix à la consommation harmonisé (ICPH, a type of household consumer price index), which increased by 1.7% over the previous 12 months.
This is according to initial statistics published by national statistics agency INSEE, with final statistics due to be published on December 13, however these are highly unlikely to be materially different from the initial statistics.
This rise is applied to a home's theoretical annual rental value (VLC) that is used to work out local property tax bills.
However, the final bill received for homeowners next year may see a considerably different increase, as local authorities can vote to increase their own tax rates.
Notices (avis) for the taxe foncière usually arrive in the late summer or early autumn, with the tax payable a few weeks after.
Read more: Taxe foncière explainer: Who pays and the exemptions
Homeowners can opt to split 2025’s taxes into ten monthly payments (paid between January 2026 and October 2026) via their personal space on the French tax site, by clicking Paiements and then Adhérer au prélèvement mensuel pour le prélèvement de mes impôts.
There is a December 15 deadline to do this.
Additional increases of taxe foncière likely
The tax increased by a minimum of 7.1% in 2023, and 3.9% in 2024, after inflation rocketed following the Covid pandemic.
Many local authorities also chose to implement additional increases on taxe foncière in these years where possible, as it is one of the key forms of local income communes receive they are able to manage themselves.
They do this by voting to increase the percentage rates which are applied to half of the property's VLC value to obtain the final taxe foncière bill.
Some communes are also pushing for a new form of tax or levy on residents to fill funding holes, as opposed to cost-cutting measures preferred by the state.
Read more: ‘Contribution citoyenne’: What is this new residents' charge proposed by French mayors?
