New French Property Tax for Non-Residents: 2026 Guide
There is no single new annual tax on non-resident ownership of French property. What you pay is a set of long-standing taxes, plus three genuinely recent changes that most "new tax" headlines actually describe. This guide lists every tax, flags what is new, and gives rates and deadlines.
Is There Actually a New French Property Tax for Non-Residents?
No single new tax on foreign owners exists in 2026. The taxes themselves are old: land tax, residence tax, income tax on rents, wealth tax on high-value property, capital gains tax on sale. What is new, and what most "new tax" headlines actually describe, are three changes:
The occupancy declaration. Since 2023, every owner of residential property must declare its occupancy online by 1 July each year, in the "Gérer mes biens immobiliers" section of the tax website: main or second home, and if occupied by someone else, by whom. You only refile when something changes. The administration uses this to track empty and second homes.
Vacancy and second-home taxes. In tense housing areas, a home vacant more than one year falls under the vacancy tax (TLV): 17% of the valeur locative, the notional annual rental value, for the first year, 34% from the second. Communes can also add 5% to 60% on top of their share of the residence tax on second homes. Outside tense zones, communes can tax homes vacant for two years. The 2026 Finance Act merges the two vacancy taxes into one from 1 January 2027, and lets tense-zone communes raise the rates.
Social levies on furnished rental income. From 2025 income, these rose from 17.2% to 18.6%; unfurnished income keeps 17.2%. Owners affiliated to a social security system in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland pay a 7.5% solidarity levy instead, on rental income as on capital gains.
Everything else the phrase "new French property tax" may describe belongs to the four taxes below, which have applied to non-residents for years.
The Four Taxes Non-Resident Owners Pay
Tax | Who pays | Rate | When |
Taxe foncière (land and property tax) | Every owner | Set locally, on the valeur locative | Annual, paid around mid-October |
Taxe d'habitation on second homes | Owners of second or vacant homes where levied | Set locally, plus 5-60% surtax where voted | Annual, late autumn |
Income tax on French rents | Non-resident landlords | 20% minimum, 30% above the scale threshold, or average rate | Annual spring return |
IFI (real estate wealth tax) | Owners of over 1.3 million euros net French property | 0.5% to 1.5% on the excess | Annual spring return |
Taxe foncière. The owner on 1 January pays it, resident or not. The amount depends on the valeur locative and on rates voted locally; the notice arrives in autumn, payment around mid-October, later online. Full rules: impots.gouv.fr, owning property in France.
Taxe d'habitation on second homes. The tax on main residences has been phased out; second homes remain taxable where the commune levies it, plus the surtax described above. With a long-term tenant, the tenant pays, not you.
IFI. The real estate wealth tax applies when net French property exceeds 1.3 million euros on 1 January; non-residents count French property only. The scale runs from 0.5% to 1.5% above the threshold. IFI rules for non-residents.
Rental Income: How France Taxes Non-Resident Landlords
French-source rental income is taxable in France whatever your residence, subject to the double taxation treaty (DTA) your country has signed.
Unfurnished lets are property income. Below 15,000 euros gross rent per year, the micro-foncier regime applies automatically with a 30% allowance. Above, or on option, the réel regime uses form 2044 to deduct actual costs: management fees, insurance, works, interest. The réel option locks you in for three years. Details: unfurnished rental obligations.
Furnished lets are business profits (BIC). Below 77,700 euros of annual revenue, the micro regime applies a 30% allowance. Above, or on option, the réel regime deducts costs and depreciates the property. The activity becomes professional above 23,000 euros and when rental revenue exceeds your household's other income. Details: furnished rental obligations.
The minimum tax rates. Non-residents do not simply use the standard scale on French income alone. France applies minimum rates: 20% below the threshold where the progressive scale reaches 20%, 30% above it. The scale is computed as if you had your worldwide income, then applied to your French income only. If a treaty exists and your average rate is lower, you may request that average rate instead.
Social levies. 17.2% on unfurnished rental income, 18.6% on furnished income from 2025. EEA, UK and Swiss residents affiliated to a social security system outside France pay the 7.5% solidarity levy instead of the full levies.
Selling: Capital Gains Tax for Non-Residents
Selling French property as a non-resident triggers a flat 19% levy on the gain, plus social levies: 17.2%, or the 7.5% solidarity levy for residents of the EU, the EEA, the UK or Switzerland affiliated to a social security system there. UK residents kept this treatment after Brexit.
Allowances for holding period. For the income tax, the taxable gain is reduced by 6% for each year of ownership beyond the fifth, up to the twenty-second year: full exemption after 22 years. For social levies, the allowance runs 1.65% per year beyond the fifth, then 9% per year beyond the twenty-second: full exemption after 30 years.
Exemptions. Two matter. If the property was your main residence on the day you transferred your tax domicile out of France, the gain is fully exempt provided you sell by 31 December of the following year and the home was not occupied by a third party in between. Separately, nationals of an EU or EEA state (with a mutual assistance agreement with France) can claim a one-time exemption capped at 150,000 euros of taxable gain, one residence per taxpayer. The cap does not apply to property held through an SCI, a French property company: that gain is fully taxable.
The representative. A sale by a non-resident above 150,000 euros requires appointing a tax representative if the seller lives outside the EU, the EEA, the UK or Switzerland. The representative guarantees the tax due. The sale is declared on form 2048-IMM-SD, filed with the notaire.
What Is Genuinely New: 2023 to 2026 Changes at a Glance
Three changes, and only three, affect non-resident owners since 2023:
The occupancy declaration, annual, by 1 July, online, once then only on change.
The vacancy tax in tense areas (17%, then 34% of valeur locative, from the second year) and the second-home surtax of 5% to 60% where communes have voted it, with the two vacancy taxes merging into a single tax on 1 January 2027.
Social levies on furnished rental income at 18.6% from 2025 income, with the 7.5% solidarity levy for EEA, UK and Swiss residents.
Annual property taxes themselves have not changed in structure for non-residents. If a post announced a sweeping new foreign-owner tax, it was describing one of the three items above.
Deadlines and Filing Obligations
Occupancy declaration: 1 July each year, in your personal account on impots.gouv.fr, section "Gérer mes biens immobiliers". First filing once, then only when the occupancy changes.
Income tax return: non-residents generally file the paper 2042 return, with a deadline between early May and early June depending on the département of the property. Online filing is not generally available to non-residents.
IFI: filed with the income return in the same spring window when French net property exceeds 1.3 million euros.
Taxe foncière and taxe d'habitation: notices in the autumn, payment at the date on the notice; direct debit and online payment push the deadline later.
Missed filings trigger interest and penalties, and the occupancy declaration is cross-checked against your local taxes: fix that first if you never filed it.
FAQs
Is there a new French property tax for non-residents?
No single new tax exists. Three recent changes apply: the annual occupancy declaration (since 2023), the restructuring of vacancy taxes (merger into one tax from 2027), and the 18.6% social levies on furnished rental income from 2025.
Do non-residents pay taxe d'habitation on a second home?
Yes, where the commune levies it on second homes, with a possible surtax in tense housing areas. A long-term tenant, not the owner, pays it on their residence.
What is the minimum income tax rate on French rents?
20% below the threshold where the progressive scale reaches 20%, 30% above. Under a tax treaty, you may request your average rate if it is lower.
Do I need a tax representative to sell?
Above a 150,000 euro sale price, yes, if you live outside the EU, the EEA, the UK or Switzerland. EU, EEA, UK and Swiss sellers are dispensed.
Get the Taxes Right Before They Cost You
The rules are the same for everyone; the combinations are not. Which regime fits your rental, whether the average rate beats the 20% minimum, whether your commune has voted the surtax: the answers depend on your property, your treaty country and your filings to date.
Our firm advises non-resident owners on French real estate taxes: declarations, regimes, IFI and sale filings. Engagements are led by Steeve Elharrar, expert-comptable and commissaire aux comptes, previously with KPMG and Deloitte, and we work in English and French. See our real estate tax advisory in France and our English-speaking chartered accountants in Paris page, or read what a French expert-comptable actually is before choosing one.
Request a quote with your property details and current filings: we will tell you concretely what applies to you and what to file first.
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