Holding taxes, in plain terms

Which taxes exactly touch a non-resident owner?

Four families, not one more: the local holding taxes (property, and second-home residence), the tax on French property income (rental or furnished), the wealth tax on property above a threshold and, when the day comes, the capital gain on resale, which our accompanied remote sale page covers separately. The table below sets out the four, their base and their moment.

How does a foreign-based owner's tax year unfold?

The tax year follows the French calendar, time zones included. On the first of January the estates are photographed: that is the date that counts for the property tax (the owner on 1 January owes the year) and for the IFI base. In spring come the returns for the closed year, with deadlines specific to non-resident forms. In autumn, the local tax notices arrive and get paid, often by direct debit on the due date. Our article on the foreign owner's filing calendar walks every deadline, form by form.

1. 1 January: reference date for the property tax and the IFI estate.
2. Spring: returns for the closed year (rental or furnished), and the IFI form if the threshold is met.
3. Summer: notices and levies, receipt of deductions or credits under the treaty.
4. Autumn: property tax notice (and second-home tax where applicable), payment or direct debit.
5. All year: keeping the records (receipts, charges, works), the base of everything.

From what point does a non-resident pay the IFI?

Two rules make all the difference with a resident. The base: for a non-resident, the IFI strikes only real estate located in France, net of deductible debts attached to it (a loan taken to buy the property, say). The threshold: the tax only arises beyond 1.3 million euros of net taxable real estate; once liable, the progressive scale applies from 800,000 euros. Our IFI simulator runs the calculation on your estate, bracket by bracket, with the official scale; the 30 % relief on a main home in principle does not apply to non-residents, who have no French main home.

Note: the values and scale live in our sourced figures base and in the simulator; should a reform come, they update there and this page will follow. For the holding strategy itself (splitting ownership, a company), only qualified advice can decide.

How much does holding cost in total, before any letting?

Holding an empty property has a floor: local taxes, insurance premiums (non-occupying), kept-up utilities, co-ownership charges, minimal upkeep. Not all of these are negotiable: taxes follow the voted assessed rental values, charges follow the building rules; insurance and upkeep are choices. Our acquisition-plan simulator adds it all on your data, year after year, so the property never costs a surprise; our article on a property's recurring costs details each line.

What are the filing and payment deadlines?

Returns are filed online from abroad on the tax administration's portals, with deadlines specific to non-residents, often shifted a few days from residents' by zone. Payments settle online from a French or foreign account; direct debit on the due date avoids forgetting, and monthly instalments exist for local taxes. One principle sums it up: every obligation has its date, proof of meeting the date is what counts, and our filing-calendar article keeps the list current.

Note: failure to file exposes you to fixed surcharges per notice or omission, and understatement to monthly late interest; these are rules of law, not commercial practices. When in doubt the reflex is the same: check the date, upload, keep the receipt.

What does your country of residence's tax treaty change?

The treaty reshuffles three cards. Withholding on rental income: the non-resident may opt for advance payment or claim the waiver where the treaty allows, failing which the manager or payer withholds. Tax credits: most treaties remove double taxation by credit, each country taxing its share under its rules. Tax residence itself: when a household straddles two countries, the treaty decides by successive criteria. Our country guides cover these rules treaty by treaty, with each tax system's vocabulary; this pillar deliberately stays national.

What should you check every year, piece by piece?

What are the risks of forgetting or getting it wrong?

The French Tax Code sets the price of forgetting: late interest at the legal monthly rate, surcharges by type of failure and, for non-residents, the added constraint of withholdings and representations. Two classic abuses cost more than the tax itself: letting "off the books" believing distance protects, and deducting works or charges without kept records. The answer is administrative before it is fiscal: dates in the diary, documents in one file, a contact who follows up. That is exactly what your French Realty space and the partner tax adviser do together.

What can be deducted or deferred, by the rules?

Without ever advising a structure, one can say what the law provides. For rental income, deductible charges, standard or actual (works, management, insurance, loan interest by regime) reduce the base, and the year's rental deficit carries forward under the regime's conditions. Furnished letting falls under micro-BIC or the actual regime, with depreciation and charges under the furnished rules, which our LMNP page details. On resale, holding-period relief lightens the gain, and some acquisition and works costs raise the purchase price. What is deductible, when, in what form: that is the tax adviser's trade, not a guide's.

What tax mistakes should you avoid on holding?

What does French Realty do on your holding taxes?

French Realty informs, points and coordinates; it does not file and does not advise structures. In practice: your personal study lists the obligations touching YOUR situation (country of residence, occupancy, letting intent or not), our simulators price what can be priced (IFI, holding budget), and the introduction leads you to the tax adviser or partner accountant used to non-residents from your country. On site, the caretaking keeps what must be kept: receipts, charges, proof of upkeep, everything underpinning a calm return. One contact, one language, one file: taxation becomes a calendar, not a worry.