Propery tax - rather confused

[Tony the Turner]

We have paid T d'H ever since we bought our maison secondaire 12 years ago - except for the first year when our vendor had paid it in advance. Your income is irrelevant unless you are a French resident for income tax purposes - and with French tax rates I don't want to be!

The TV licence will go on from this year. If you don't have a TV (and we don't) you have to persuade the authorities that you have not got one. They seem even more reluctant than the UK licensing crowd to believe that there are people who can survive without their daily dose of pap. Each year we get a form asking us to declare that we do not have a TV and each year we have to go to the time and modest expense of telling them no. Still it keeps some fonctionaire in employment and no doubt accounts for a portion of the hig taxes!

[Coco]

Presumably thats per year rather than 183 days straight but do you know if its calendar/fiscal or rolling year? thanks.

I believe it's per fiscal year, which in France is the same as a calendar year, ie 1 Jan - 31 Dec.

Perhaps the rules are different in 46 (I'm certainly no expert) but certainly in Normandy (where the initial enquirer was asking about) taxe d'habitation is payable on all properties, whether maison principal or secondaire.  In fact, as TU said, often there is less to pay if it's your main home.  We paid the same amount each year and then this year, following the submission of our first tax return last year, we were given a 100% exemption because our income was below a certain level (and we're not yet on th breadline!)

We took possession of our house in August 1999, which exempted us from Taxe d'habitation for 1999, as we didn't own it on 1 January.  We didn't get a bill for 2000 either and when we asked the estate agent, she said that you get a year's grace - we didn't argue but I couldn't quite understand that.  There again, others in the region said the same had happened to them.  Then, in 2001, 2002 and 2003 we received full taxe d'habitation bills.  2001 and 2002 we lived in the UK, visiting for about 6 weeks a year and 2003 we arrived here permanently in March.  So certainly the first three years payments were made without anyone having a clue as to what our salaries were.

Around here there are some agents that quote both fonciere and habitation costs on their details and some that don't, but just about all the notaires do, so I do think that it should be possible to get at least a ball park figure on your property, if not a definite one.  Again, as TU says, in some areas it runs into the 000's per year, in others it's as little as one hundred and something.

 

[goose]

yes, our agent shows them but our house had zero in the box. Enquiries revealed that the current (now ex - we moved in last week) paid nothing, the reason given that they were maison secondaires too.

On a slight tangent, re the TV, we dont have one and dont intend to but when I asked our agent he said he didnt pay it either. He declared it to be rubbish that he wasnt prepared to spend €100 a year on! His advice was just keep ticking the non box. Its a shame really, our vendors were quite keen to point to the TV booster over the valley and proudly proclaim that reception is wonderful here!

 

[Teamedup]

I have no idea why this property has 'O' in the box.  But maison secondaires have both taxes levied on them usually there are no depts that make such exceptions.