When will French notaire fees increase for property purchases?
All departments are likely to vote in favour of raising fees
The 2025 budget allows for fees to increase from 4.5% to 5%.
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The price of purchasing a property is set to become more expensive for many in France after departments were given the green light to increase ‘notaire fees’ if they so wish.
These fees – officially called droits de mutation à titre onéreux (DMTO) – currently sit at 4.5%, but the ability for departments to raise this to 5% is included in the 2025 budget.
This threshold will remain in place until April 2028.
Despite the name, these fees are mainly paid directly by the notaire to local authorities and so it is the departments which can decide if – and when – to implement the increase.
The increase will add around €500 to the final price for every €100,000 spent on a property.
Read more: Buying a property in France may cost more from April as ‘notaire fees’ allowed to rise
When will increases come into force?
Paris – which has its own department jurisdiction – has already voted to increase the fees and the rise will come into force on April 1, 2025.
For other departments it depends on when the topic is discussed at an upcoming meeting of the departmental council (date de déliberation).
These meetings take place at least three times a year – although additional meetings can be scheduled – with various issues discussed.
Among these, the increase in DMTO fees will be included in a future session.
Depending on when a meeting including a vote to increase the fees is held, there is a corresponding implementation date for when the fees rise can take place.
Meeting held February 11, 2025 to February 22, 2025 - Implementation from April 1, 2025
March 1, 2025 to March 31, 2025 - May 1, 2025
April 1, 2025 to April 15, 2025 2025 - June 1, 2025
April 16, 2025 to November 1, 2025 - January 1, 2026
December 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025 - February 1, 2026
January 1, 2026 to January 31, 2026 - March 1, 2026
February 1, 2026 to February 28, 2026 - April 1, 2026
March 1, 2026 to March 31, 2026 - May 1 2026
April 1, 2026 to April 30, 2026 - June 1, 2026
April 16, 2026 to November 30, 2026 - January 1, 2027
December 1, 2026 - April 15, 2027 - Uncertain date
April 16, 2027 to November 30, 2027 - January 1, 2028
In all cases, the period ends in April 2028, when the level of tax can again be altered.
Your local departmental council may publish the date and agenda of its upcoming meeting on its website, however this is not always the case.
Alternatively, you may be able to contact them and ask for the agenda plan.
Results of any meetings will be published to notify people of the changes set to take place.
Departments can choose not to implement the hike but it is likely that almost all will do so as DMTO fees are a source of regional funding.
Many departments claim to be in a funding ‘hole’ after changes to the taxe d’habitation saw the money previously directly received from property owner payments paid out by the state to local authorities.
Departments say the funding does not equal what they used to receive, leaving them short – in addition, the upcoming budget calls for around €2.2 billion in local authority funding cuts.
Currently, all but two departments have the maximum 4.5% DMTO rate – Morbihan and Mayotte have a 3.8% rate.
It is also important to note that the fees are due on actual sales and so it is the completion date and not that of the signing of a promise of purchase/sale that matters.
It means the entire sales process needs to be completed before the implementation date to benefit from the lower fees.
