Expert in taxe fonciere needed

Recommendations for a taxe expert to help with Fonciere taxe. Vienne area. English speaking.Many thanks

I think your local tax office is your best expert in taxe foncière, and they don’t charge for helping you.

Taxe foncière isn’t a thing you can contest, really. It’s worked out by the computer according to a set calculation formula (the details are on the back of your bill) and it would be unusual for a mistake to have been made. However, garbage in garbage out is always a possibility so if you think the tax office has incorrect data about your property, go in and ask them to bring the details up on their computer and go through it with you field by field, they are usually perfectly happy to do this. There are also certain ceilings that should be applied depending on the personal circumstances of the proprietor, and time-limited exemptions on new builds, but again, provided the tax office has full and accurate data these reductions are applied automatically by the computer.

So it’s a bit hard to see how a tax expert could help, except by ensuring the tax office holds correct data which it is probably easier for you to do for yourself. If you consult a third party you will in any case have clarify the data with him first, so you might as well clarify it direct with the tax office, and I don’t even know if the tax office would discuss your taxe foncière with a third party.

Hope that saves you from wasting time and money…

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@Issie52

Hi Cathy

It would be helpful if you could outline what your problem/query is …some background info as well… please… then we can put our thinking caps on :wink:

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The Tresor office does not have anyone who speaks English.
The house is a ruin
No water
No Electric
I have been told by my French neighbor that I should not be paying Fonciere on a ruin until it is renovated.

AFAIK taxe foncière is payable regardless of the state of the property. It’s also payable on land that has no buildings on it.

I think your French neighbour is thinking of taxe d’habitation, which is the “other” property tax. There are two property taxes in France, taxe foncière is always paid by the owner, and taxe d’habitation is paid, when it is payable, by the person who lives there, either the owner or a tenant. Your neighbour is correct that taxe d’habitation is not payable on an uninhabitable property. Are you paying taxe d’habitation?

If so, the normal procedure is to get your mayor to certify each year that the property was uninhabitable on 1st Jan, and you will then not be charged taxe d’habitation for that year. Sometimes the mayor comes and checks but if he knows the property he might not. Some tax offices don’t insist on an attestation from the mayor and will accept a statement from you.

If the local Tresor doesn’t have an English speaker, maybe the centre des impôts does, or do you know your mayor?

But since you haven’t mentioned taxe d’habitation it may be that you’re not being charged it.

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Thank you for your assistance

Cathy… when you bought the property, the Notaire will have known how much the Taxe Fonciere would be… maybe that detail got lost in the translation…

Anyway… when you put in Planning Request to work on your uninhabitable ruin… once permission is granted, you may have to notify when work starts and certainly when work finishes… and using that data, the Tax Authorities will bill you for Taxe d’habitation… from about a year after the place becomes habitable… in the interim, even if work is not completed…(this is a rough idea for you of how things may go)…

best of luck…

Your neighbour is almost correct
I had my house re-valued for the same reason
I had to go the main tax office, meet and fill out a form with the Foncière team
I then had to draw up a plan (not to scale but with all room measurements) and then a sworn rep from my Mairie came over to take photos
My plan, the photos and a signed/stamped letter from the Maire was sent to the Foncière team
Two weeks later I heard that my Foncière was to be reduced by 50% and I was re-imbursed two years
In short, ruin or not you have to pay it, but uninhabitable rooms are charged at a much lower rate, so you may find that you’re only liable to pay a small amount

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@Issie52

Hi Cathy… as a matter of interest, when did you buy your “ruin” ??

Been today Sarah and you are correct.
Took my French neighbour with me and spoke to the clerk
We are due a rebate and reassessed.
Thank you.

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I know this is an old post, but I wanted to know how or indeed if the French could enforce Taxe Fonciere payment from a UK citizen French property owner who intends to return to UK if they don’t pass on their new UK address? Grateful for any information.

I don’t know about now, post-Brexit, but a few years ago I knew someone who returned to live in the UK leaving behind a number of outstanding tax debts. The authorities traced him through the HMRC in the UK and recovered their debts though I’m not sure by which method.

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perhaps using debt-collection-in-europe23012014.pdf (3.7 MB) method… although that avenue may now be closed following Brexit.

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@Stella - do you know if this is still the case? - having just paid Tax dHab on our project which is definitely not liveable (no heating, no kitchen, no toilet, no bathrooms).

Speak to Mairie?

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There is still a fair bit of co-operation between the UK and France. And the other thing to note is that anyone with an outstanding debt in any EU country might find presenting a passport at a customs point anywhere in Europe produces a nasty surprise…

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After a long, long, very long while I believe the property can be taken (ie taken into possession ie your ownership rights removed) and charges outstanding paid from its proceeds. Though I understand historically rare for this power to be used. IIRC this might have come up somehow as I recall the previous owners of our property had fallen out and then hit very hard times and TF had not been paid for many years and I seem to remember being somewhere semi-official and this comment being made.

Taxe d’hab is just about disappeared depending on where. I think this year may be the last year. However so far as I understand it’s still being levied on second homes. Definitely worth clarifying if ruin overrides that. If you find out would be interesting to know.

Taxe d’hab continues to 2023…and we still pay is as a few euros above the threshold, as do second home owners.

If a house has a roof and is connected to water and electricity taxe d’hab will be applied. Although i believe you can argue your way out of it if can show proof of not being able to live in it.

Thanks for that clarification Jane it’s very interesting.

We have always paid the taxe d’habitation even in the last century when we weren’t obliged to. My partner’s view being we should contribute.