Tax d'habitation and principal residence

[Manon]

Conflicting information - am hoping one of the very well informed forum users can help ! We have had a holiday home here since 1994 and in 2002 we bought a retirement renovation project. We have always paid T d'H on both properties even though one was not habitable. We formally notified HMRC that we were moving to France with effect from 1st November this year. We have been renovating what will be our full time principal residence all this year.

I have just been told that we should only ever have been paying one lot of T d'H and that we need to make a declaration concerning our principal residence very quickly in order to obtain the 2010 rates of Credits d'Impots for stoves, heat pumps etc. I thought we simply declared these on the tax return we expect to fill out in May 2011 for the tax year 2010. Someone has said that it works in connection with our Td'H and that we need to talk to our Mairie about it. Can anyone clarify what we need to do please ? Thank you.

[idun]

Getting somewhere classed as uninhabitable can be difficult unless it is a complete wreck, say without a roof etc.

Can you prove that it was like that? and how long it was like that too? All you can do is ask.

If you look on the thread about poverty in France, you'll see that some people live in dire conditions, so somewhere I would consider uninhabitable, may not be the same for someone else.

[Manon]

Thanks Idun - what has been implied is that one only pays one lot of T d'H regardless of how many properties one owns.

[suein56]

[quote user="lavorgere"]... what has been implied is that one only pays one lot of T d'H regardless of how many properties one owns.[/quote]

Not true; in general if you own 2 houses you will pay 2 lots of taxe d'hab. Though if you are a retired person tax-resident in France and your income is very low then you might only pay the tax on your 2nd house.

Perhaps what you are being told is that if one of your properties is uninhabitable then you should not be paying Taxe d'Hab on it.

Sue

[tinabee]

[quote user="suein56"][quote user="lavorgere"]... what has been implied is that one only pays one lot of T d'H regardless of how many properties one owns.[/quote]
Not true; in general if you own 2 houses you will pay 2 lots of taxe d'hab. Though if you are a retired person tax-resident in France and your income is very low then you might only pay the tax on your 2nd house.
Perhaps what you are being told is that if one of your properties is uninhabitable then you should not be paying Taxe d'Hab on it.

Sue

[/quote]

It could be that the confusion is caused by the TV licence (redevance audiovisuelle) part of the T d'H . You only pay ONE TV licence regardless of how many properties - but you still pay the Td'H part for each property.

[Manon]

Thank you for the replies - the house had an outside toilet and there was one tap in the house - connected to a pipe in the ditch to link to a spring - does that sound habitable ? Also - does anyone have any knowledge about the credits d'impots and how to claim and how one goes about declaring ' residence principale ' please ?

[KathyF]

Sounds just like our house was when we bought it and it had been lived in like that for many years. No mod cons does not automatically mean uninhabitable in rural France. [:)] We were able to get it classed as uninhabited during the renovation work, but had to get an attestation from the mairie to that effect to get the tax refunded.

[Will]

If it has walls and a roof (not necessarily 100% intact) then it is likely to be treated as 'habitable'.

Credits d'impôts are available to French tax residents, and have to meet certain conditions, such as the equipment must be supplied and the work  carried out by a professional, on your principal residence. As long as you make your French tax returns from that address, and it is used for other official communication, it will automatically be considered your principal residence.

The claim is made on your annual tax return, supported by invoices etc. See http://www.impots.gouv.fr/portal/dgi/public?paf_dm=popup&paf_gm=content&espId=1&typePage=cpr02&paf_gear_id=500018&docOid=documentstandard_2571

 

[Manon]

Thank you Will. Our problem is that we are currently living in what, up until now, has been our holiday home and we are just anxious that there should not be any dispute / confusion about which is classed as our main home.

[Chancer]

[quote user="lavorgere"]Thank you for the replies - the house had an outside toilet and there was one tap in the house - connected to a pipe in the ditch to link to a spring - does that sound habitable ? Also - does anyone have any knowledge about the credits d'impots and how to claim and how one goes about declaring ' residence principale ' please ?[/quote]

Yes it does if the tap is over a rudimentary evier.

Remove it and the evier and it will no longer be imposable.

[BJSLIV]

Our problem is that we are currently living in what, up until now, has been our holiday home and we are just anxious that there should not be any dispute / confusion about which is classed as our main home. 

Your maison principale is the one in which you live, receive official communications, and at which you pay your French taxes etc etc.

If the other house is unfurnished and totally unoccupied at the start of a year, then you don't pay any taxe d'habitation for that property for that year.

On the other hand however basic the facilities are , lacking heating, bathrooms etc etc, if it's furnished , however humbly, it will be liable to TdH.

http://tinyurl.com/habitation-tax

http://preview.tinyurl.com/habitation-tax