Taxes on 2nd French Home

[GordonS]

We've had a house in France for a few years and are considering purchasing a ski apartment in the Alps. Are Taxd'H & Tax'F paid in full on a French maison secondaire? I know that there are arrangements whereby TV licence is only paid one and a 2nd phone can be disconnected/reconnected cheaply, but cannot get a clear answer on the 2 main taxes.

[NormanH]

Yes both are paid in full (without the redevance audiovisuelle)  and in fact the Td'H for a résidence secondaire is sometimes higher than if it had been a residence principale

[NickP]

Norman is correct Td'H for a second home is higher. but not much it's mainly an administrative charge and depends on the local council.

[charlesantoine]

The taxes on 2nd homes can be avoided by two means:

- The property has to be used for profesional reasons (the reasons could be quite generals)

- The department decides or not if the tax is due. For instance, in the 06, this measure is not in effect.

The other good news about property tax on second home owners is this one:

"The European Union’s top court deemed it “illegal” to force them to pay social charges on gains from renting or selling their properties.

The ruling by the European Court of Justice, which emerged on Thursday, means France is liable to reimburse tens of millions of euros to British and other EU non-resident owners who have let out or sold their properties in the past two to three years.

Some 900,000 non-resident property owners in France were affected when the Socialist government of President François Hollande in 2012 imposed a 15.5 per cent “social charge” on capital gains from the sale of second homes or rental income – a measure which it said would bring in €250 million a year.

Tax on rental income rose overnight from 20 per cent to 35.5 per cent, while capital gains tax on property sales rose from 19 per cent to 34.5 per cent.

The French finance ministry said it would “remove an unjustified tax advantage” for non-resident owners.

In its February 26 ruling, the Court of Justice concluded that the tax violates EU law because a resident of a member state must contribute to the social security system of one member state only.

It is thus illegal under EU law for France to levy social charges on income and gains derived by non-French EU residents on selling or renting their French property.

The Luxembourg ruling came three months after Eleanor Sharpston, the European Union’s top legal advisor, told the court that the French tax grab violated EU law because “a person exercising an activity in one Member State is only subject to social security regulation of that Member State.”

The Advocate General’s advice was based on EU precedents dating from 2000 and 1971.

It is a very good news for the many EU residents who have been forced to pay this charge, and anyone who has not already submitted a claim to the French tax authorities should do so now.

The chances of being reimbursed are very strong for anyone who sold their second home in 2014.

If a claim is already made, sellers should now write to the French tax administration asking for their money back and also asking for a refund of any tax agent’s fees.

However sellers have to be careful, the government recently imposed stricter deadlines on submitting reimbursement claims. These prevent anyone who sold in 2012 or 2013 from making a claim unless they did so by December 31 of the year following that sale.

These deadlines, however, “may be open to legal challenge”, said Daudruy Associates legal experts.

Owners currently thinking of selling may still have to pay the charge and claim it back once French law is changed, experts said.

This should take place by the end of this year, and it is another positive sign for a return of foreign investors."

[Foxie]

But the OP is not a non resident, so none of that is relevant.

[idun]

As NH said, Taxe d'habitation and foncieres for the second home but if you have paid for your tv licence in another french home, you don't pay that again.