Your taxes will depend on the tax agreement between France and your country.
This is a short piece about the USA, but if you search for convention fiscale etats unis you will get the full thing.
For British people there is a double tax convention which limits things, so in general retired people pay less income tax here but do pay social charges. The taxes and charges for workimg people and the self employed are high.
Jane, thanks for your response. I should have clarified - I am curious about real estate property taxes. Do they differ from country to country and location within France, where the property is located? France was my dream country to move to due to historic places but somebody told me recently that taxes are extremely high and it is not the property price but the taxes on the property that turn people away. I cannot find a good source of information on French property taxes for Americans. Thanks in advance.
Olga… there are 2 property taxes… the Owner’s Tax (Taxe Foncière) paid by the owner
and the Habitant’s Tax (Taxe d’Habitation) paid by the person who lives there - or if the property is deemed habitable, even if not used, that tax is also paid by the owner.
both taxes are made up of percentages of the “perceived” value of the property. (that’s another long story)
Each local council will set their percentage… and the various layers of government decide their percentage… add the whole lot together and you have the Tax.
Percentages can sometimes be higher for second homes than for Main Residence … that is decided locally I believe…
Tax d’Hab is gradually being phased out for certain permanent residents
I can only say that our Property Taxes in UK were much higher than we pay here.
Americans don’t pay any more than anyone else would … not to France, anyway…
Do Americans pay extra property taxes? That would surprise me…
The general property taxes in France are taxe foncière and the taxe d’habitation. The cost varies across France. TF is based on the square meterage of the house and there is a fixed price per sqm that is related to a theoretical rental value of the property. This can be quite high. Many people also pay TH (also based on this theoretical rental value) but a different calculation. A lot of people with low incomes are now exempt - but not for second homes.
Since it varies by town, and within towns, can’t be specific. But you could easily be talking about 2- 3000€/year. A friend was looking for a new house and found a beautiful one with very large garden in the centre of Macon for a ridiculously low price…but the TF & TH were astronomical because of location - I think about 15,000€/year. Explained the sale price!
you can do some checking here, in this link… you tap in the name of your commune… and it tells all…
Stella, I put the name and number of a commune into the box and it came up with
Votre Recherche : ST MARTIN DE CENILLY (50210) Nous avons trouvé 3063 résultats (3063 articles) contenant les termes de votre recherche" and in no order I could percieve. Eh!?
And how about this? *"Since Jan 2018 this tax [Tax d’Hab] is being abolished for most households, on a phased basis, as we describe below. *
As we stated above, this tax is facing extinction, although probably not for everyone. The process started for around 80% of households in 2018 and is be undertaken on a phased basis over three years, with complete abolition for eligible households in 2020.
Indeed, President Macron has stated that he wants to abolish it for ‘everyone’ by 2023, but the plan for complete abolition has yet to be enacted in law, and the government have stated that second home owners will remain liable. *
The reduction increased to 65% in 2019 and to 100% in 2020, with slight increases in the eligible income threshold…"*
Lots to consider as far as picking a spot in FR. Difficult to choose, as so much is fab. However, the climate is, in my view, very much to be factored in.
The BBC reported that of the ten UK record temps in recent years [sorry to be vague - about ten] 9 have been record highs to only 1 low. The high record was beaten again last week.
One of the reasons I want to move from Valencia city is the ‘isolation by climate’, July/Aug/Sept. It’s 31C in my den as I write this. Out on the street it will max out at about 6pm at +/- 35C - every day. And be up into the 40C’s soon.
El Paseo in a mask, in this heat? Mad dogs and Spanish old ladies.
As for France, a photo of a silky blue-grey Danish sky and lush green fields got me thinking
Normandy it is, then.
that is because your town is not in sud ouest…
there will be similar sites in your own local papers… Normandie etc…
cheers
Hi Stella, I really appreciate your response as I mentioned that it is hard to find a definite number on say 250,000 Euro property. I know our tax rate in US (I live in Colorado) and I find it reasonable ($1,800 on a $300,000 property/year). But I like to hear that after UK, French taxes seem lower. It would probably be applicable for us too. Another quick question. Do school re-open in France in September (were they even closed due to pandemic in April/May as they did in US)? Thanks again. Olga
Thanks, Jane, for your response. I also see very good prices (compared to US) on some beautiful historic houses listed for sale in France. Now, it explains why. Do they list the property tax within the listing (since the house sq ft is known for a selling property), so you can make a proper decision before you even pursue that property? Or how do you obtain the information where (location wise in France) property tax are better before you start looking? Thanks in advance. Olga
Hi Olga… It’s not a secret… it’s a legitimate question… anyone interested in a particular property can ask what the annual taxes are. The Agents/Seller should have that info readily to hand…
Just remember to ask for the 2 taxes… Foncière and Habitation… 
and the Asking/ Selling Price is not necessarily the same as “the figure” on which taxes are worked… hence you need to put the question…
Lots of information available on line about average levels in different towns. And then, as Stella says, it depends how big the property is and the agent should tell you precise amounts. For example:
Hi Olga - it is one of those ‘how long is a piece of string’ questions I’m afraid - houses vary so much in nature as does land and its theoretical value that you can’t give a flat rate. A small house on a lot of land at the edge of a small town will attract more tax than a big house with no garden in the middle of nowhere, and both may be cheaper than a flat in Paris. All sorts of things are considered - is your garden made up of garden plus agricultural land, do you have a swimming pool and if so can the fire-brigade access it if they need water in an emergency, what is the ceiling height on the top floor, etc etc etc
Schools were closed from March 13th and gradually reopened from 11th May: older pupils continued to work remotely, and younger children had a fairly draconian protocol to follow in class. The school year finished on the 6th of July, not with a bang but a whimper, very sad.
Schools should reopen as usual on 1st September but we shall see under what conditions.
Our house, gite and garden here are way more expensive than our flat in paris! The rates in Paris are actually quite good per sq m.
I live in the SW and this is the only site I know that caters for our questions and usually gives helpful responses. I live the centre of Tarbes and I rate it highly. Not too busy and near the mountains. Hope to move here permanently in an about 6 years.
Is the mussel resto still going ?
Been going there for yonks tho the last visit was a couple of years ago. My favourite has to be moules à la grand-mère.
Nearly bought a place in Tarbes ,we used to visit several times per month.
I’m hoping to get there in fairly soon with maybe a view to buying in the area next year.
@Martin_O_Connor Your mobile phone number is showing on your signature. You might want to remove it for your own security as this is a public forum.
Izzy x
Thanks
Kind Regards,
Martin O’Connor
We live half way between Bergerac and Sarlat. We don’t go into Sarlat during the summer as I work in tourism so I end up going nowhere. If we do go its to take friends around in the evening or I go to some classes from oct to May (piggybacking off the U3A spanish classes).
We use and abuse airports and are equidistant timewise between Toulouse, Bordeaux and Limoges all at around 2 hours. Bergerac is our closest at 45 mins. I’m not so sure that there are many flights out of Brive (which has moved down the road since my map was produced) so perhaps noise isn’t too relevant (if this is the Souillac airport that you refer to). Its a bit of a white elephant scheme though it was supposed to be a goods transport hub.
I also picked the kids up off the TGV at Anglouleme whilst the regional airports were closed. Again 2 hours or so away.
