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PROPERTY

St Tropez, Chamonix: The French towns hiking taxes for second-home owners in 2024

Owners of second homes in nearly 1,500 towns, cities and villages across France will see an increase in their property tax (taxe d’habitation) bills this year. 

Published: 22 August 2024 15:39 CEST
Updated: 26 August 2024 16:35 CEST
St Tropez, Chamonix: The French towns hiking taxes for second-home owners in 2024
A view of the city center and old harbour in Saint-Tropez, southern France on July 10, 2021. (Photo by CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU / AFP)

Second-home owners in certain parts of France – particularly those in popular destinations such as Saint Tropez, Chamonix, Ile de Brehat and Saint Malo – should prepare for their tax bills to jump up quite a bit in 2024.

In France there are two different types of property taxes. First, there’s the property owners’ tax (taxe foncière), which is paid by everyone who owns property in France, regardless of what they use it for or whether they are a French resident.

The second property tax – taxe d’habitation – is now only paid by second-home owners. Those who rent no longer pay any property taxes. 

READ MORE: Your guide to French property taxes

Each year, local authorities in areas with housing shortages can opt to increase the taxe d’habitation on the second homes in their area.

According to the Direction Générale des Finances Publiques, the number of communes voting to increase taxes for second homes has jumped to 1,461 in 2024, in comparison to 308 who did so in 2023.

According to the French government’s economy website: “[Taxe d’habitation] is calculated on the basis of the rental value of the dwelling and outbuildings, applying rates voted by the local authorities.” 

Local authorities in areas where demand for property outstrips supply (ie a zone tendue) can impose a surcharge on unoccupied properties and second homes. This would include, for example, major cities such as Paris, Lyon and Toulouse – among others – as well as popular tourist areas.

READ ALSO: French property: What is a ‘zone tendue’ in France?

Almost 10 percent of France’s housing stock is second homes, the vast majority owned by French people.

Where are taxes on second homes increasing?

In 2024, a total of 3,697 communes were handed the authority to increase taxe d’habitation bills, compared to 1,136 in 2023.

Of the additional 2,561 communes that have this right, 1,461 have chosen to do so. 

The full list of the 1,461 additional communes that have voted to increase taxe d’habitation on second homes is available, in département order, on a document via the impots.gouv website here (pdf).

The list also shows the exact rate of increase to be applied in each commune.

More than half of the towns voting to apply the tax rises in 2024 are concentrated in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Occitanie and Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur. A total of 780 communes are in these three regions.

The remainder are concentrated mostly along the Atlantic coast and around Paris, including Divonne-les-Bains (Ain), Roquefort-les-Pins (Alpes-Maritimes), Île d’Aix (Charente-Maritime), Concarneau (Finistère), Mondouzil (Haute-Garonne), Arcachon (Gironde), Île de Bréhat (Côtes d’Armor), and Saint Malo (Ille-et-Vilaine).

Several towns opting to increase their taxe d’habitation were also popular tourist destinations, including Saint Tropez along the Mediterranean, Briançon, Chamonix and Chambery in the Alps, and Bonifacio in Corsica.

Overall, the average increase this year was 40 percent.

However, 539 of the 1,461 (or 37 percent) opted for the maximum 60 percent mark-up, according to government figures, in comparison to 39 percent choosing to do so in 2023.

Meanwhile, 59 communes chose to apply the lowest possible five percent increase, including Le Noyer (Hautes-Alpes), Balazuc (Ardèche), Propiac (Drôme) and Lamalou-les-Bains (Hérault).

What difference does this make to my tax bill?

The size of your bill will therefore depend on the value of your second home, and whether your local authority has imposed a surcharge for second homes.

To give you a rough idea, here are the average bills for 2023.

The aim of the surcharge is to encourage second-home owners to either sell the property, or rent it out long term.

Owners of second homes may be exempt from taxe d’habitation charges in particular circumstances.

  • You are obliged, because of your professional activity, to live in a different location from your main home
  • You retain exclusive use of the dwelling that was your main residence prior to being permanently housed in a care facility
  • You are unable to use the property as your principal residence for reasons outside your control, such as it not being fit for permanent habitation, or it is due to be demolished or renovated as part of a town-planning project
  • You have put it up for rent or sale at market prices

READ ALSO: Reader question – who has to pay France’s ‘vacant property’ tax?

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For members

LIVING IN FRANCE

How to prove to French authorities that you are alive

If you live in France you'll be used to official requests for all sorts of documents, but one that may come as a surprise is being asked to prove that you're still alive. Here's how to do that.

Published: 19 September 2024 15:57 CEST
How to prove to French authorities that you are alive

Official processes in France usually involve collecting together a big dossier of documents, and requests for certain type of certificate are common (the one for ‘a birth certificate issued within the last three months’ regularly baffles foreigners).

A request that is less common – but still vital – is the request for a Certificat de Vie – a certificate of life, which is basically a piece of paper asserting that you remain within the mortal realm.

Here’s how to get it and why you might need one.

Who needs it?

You only need to provide this certificate if it is requested from you.

The people most likely to get a request for a Certificat de Vie are pensioners. Pensioner providers regularly ask for proof that you are still alive, and if you don’t provide it it’s highly likely that they will stop paying out your pension.

The people most commonly asked to provide this are people living in a different country to the one paying out the pension (so for example people who have worked in France but then moved to another country, or pensioners who have moved to France) but they are fairly widespread for all types of pension.

The other people most likely to ask for it is the benefits office, especially if you are receiving a French Assurance invalidité (disability benefit) or Allocation de solidarité (top-up benefits) – as with pensions, failing to send the certificate can result in your payments being stopped.

Some people may instead be asked for an Attestation sur l’honneur de non-décès (sworn declaration of non-death). This is simpler to provide because it’s not a specific form it’s just something that you write out in formal French declaring that you remain alive, and then sign and date.

You can find templates for creating an attestation in the correct format and legal French here.

How to get it

There are two ways to obtain the Certificat de Vie – in person or online.

If you live in France, you go along in person to your local mairie and ask them to complete the form for you – it’s form Cerfa n° 11753*02, but the mairie staff will know that. Be sure to take with you official ID (ie passport or French ID card), and depending on your circumstances mairie staff may ask for extra paperwork such as proof of address.

Once you have the form, you can send it to whoever has requested it, either by registered mail or a scanned copy uploaded to an online portal.

You can find a sample copy here to show you what the form looks like.

If you live outside France, you can request the certificate at the French consulate, while some police stations will also provide it (depending on the country).

But for those living outside France there is also an online option, which now includes the option to verify your continuing life via your biometric details, meaning that you don’t even need to leave the house.

This would be useful to people who have worked in France for part of their career, meaning they get a partial French pension, but have then either returned to their home country or moved to another country.

In order to use this, you need to download the app ‘Mon Certificat de Vie’ – find full instructions on using it here.

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