Jump to content

Yet another question on Tax d'habitation


Mutts
 Share

Recommended Posts

We completed on our maison secondaire in September 2004 and presumed any taxes for 2004 were dealt with in the completion statement.

Our taxe fonciere (2005) arrived in September 05- posted to our UK address - and was duly paid.

We've been expecting our tax de'habitation (other people in the village have received theirs) but nothing has arrived so far. On a recent visit we took advice from the Mairie and 'phoned the appropriate bureau d'impots who seem not to be aware of our existence! We had to give the name of the previous owner of the house before they could locate our property and they seemed to imply that nothing was due.

I'm very happy not to pay any tax, but don't want to end up with unpaid tax bill + fine.

To complicate matters, we're moving house soon within the UK and although we've sent a change of address letter to the impots, the references given were on the fonciere bill.

Any ideas?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were told that tax fonciere (tax on owning the house) was always payable by the owner but tax d'habitation (tax on living there) was payable by the resident - who of course could be a different person. This is why they've managed to get your records seperated no doubt. We were also told that tax d'habitation is only payable if its a primary home.

 There is of course many other threads with arguements about whether this is morally right or not but like yourself we're quite happy to get this "discount" (every penny helps) provided its correct and not just an omission. We checked with the mairie too to find out what the previous owner was paying but they seemed mystified by our request as the previous owner was a (parisian) 2nd homer and didn't pay tax habitation. This may be one of the important reason to ensure the mairie has you registgered as a maison secondaire of course.  

To complicate matters it also seems to depend on your region/commune. 30kms down the road we got an entirely different view. I've also heard that the tax d'habitation is in some way means tested in some departments so hard up pensioners and the unemployed don't have to pay it.

Being in our first year we don't really know which will turn out to be the truth! We watch the post with bated breath.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were also told that tax habitation is only payable if its a primary home.

You have to pay the Taxe d'habitation  if you are the owner or the person considered to be resident on the 1st of January of any year. even if it's a second home.

We checked with the mairie too to find out what the previous owner was paying but they seemed mystified by our request

Even if the Mairie knows I doubt that they would divulge the information, for one reason it could reveal someone's tax position.

I've also heard that the tax d'habitation is in some way means tested in some departments so hard up pensioners and the unemployed don't have to pay it.

This is true to an extent, if you submit a tax return in France, then you could be elligible for a reduction in the Taxe d'habitation, but it's not confined to a department, it's the same throughout France

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On the Finding/Owning French Property forum you will find a recent

topic "Taxe d'Habitation, Fonciere ?discount for 2nd. homes", which

covers part of your question. We had the same situation as you of not

being billed for T d'H and found out it was something to do with the

previous owner being a widow and exempt fom the tax.  Eventually

we have got onto their books and now pay the tax. We always had a bill

for T. Fonciere. Pat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="Patf"]On the Finding/Owning French Property forum you will find a recent topic "Taxe d'Habitation, Fonciere ?discount for 2nd. homes", which covers part of your question. We had the same situation as you of not being billed for T d'H and found out it was something to do with the previous owner being a widow and exempt fom the tax.  Eventually we have got onto their books and now pay the tax. We always had a bill for T. Fonciere. Pat.
[/quote]

We also have not received a bill for Td'H. The previous owner was a widow which maybe answers the question as to why we have not had a bill. You say you have now got onto their books, sorry to sound a bit dim but who did you contact to get this sorted out?

Thanks

Tina

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The best place to go is your local Trésor Public, most towns will have an office, or you will have to go to your main  Tax office. You may be able to go for many years before they find out that you are eligible for the tax, but in my opinion it's not worth the hassle, you will probably have to pay the back tax sometime in the future.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My family and I bought our house in May this year and moved in in July.  We have children at the local school, so therefore pay the Tresury dept for the school meals (which I hasten to add are very good value and sound very tasty) we also pay a bill for the refuse collection, May-Dec 133.00 Euros.  However, we have not received a Fonciere or habitation tax bill (excuse my spelling).  Our house had been empty for 5 years prior to us buying it and then the previous owners were in the maison retratit (old folks home).  I have heard you do not get a bill until after 1 years residence in your property.  Can anyone shed any light on this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...