Hello all,
I have owned a house in France since 2020. I had been in the process of renovating it, but I then fell ill with a chronic pain condition which meant I would struggle to look after it myself.
By chance, I was then put in touch with a buyer who had family connections to the house and didn’t mind its half-renovated state. I engaged my notaire to do the conveyancing.
Halfway through the process I then learnt from my notaire about the need to appoint a fiscal representative who would establish the tax due to the French government on the sale. To my absolute horror I learnt that these taxes amounted to 36% of the property value.
I have already lost so much money on all the renovations. Can anyone tell me if there is a way around losing 40% of the house value?
Is it a holiday home? Different rules to princiapl residence. I had to proove by official invoices for all works done that had increased the value since it was valued at the death of OH for succession and luckily was covered - approx €22k was needed in paperwork that we spent on the works otherwise myself and my two children were subject to I think it was 8% tax on the value gain and this was our principal home not a holiday home which would attract a higher tax on value gain.
Thanks so much for these comments, Porridge and Shiba.
The house was intended to be my main residence on retirement, but I didn’t get that far. I am making a very small gain on the sale of the house, as the buyer is paying a little extra for the materials for the renovation.
The information from the link suggests that the tax would only fall on that gain (as with UK Capital Gains tax). If yes, that would be a huge relief. But is it definite that the taxes don’t apply to the entire house value realised by the sale?
Are you UK resident? As if so you will need to provide the paperwork to avoid paying social charges. Which is doable but just adds complexity to the process.
i’m presuming that you are and that is why the notaire is insisting on a fiscal representative? Negotiate hard over their fees - some try to charge 4%!
I’d gained the impression that you had to pay the social charges regardless and that the only person who could act as a représent fiscal was someone registered centrally as having the qualifications.
Thanks for the heads-up on the charges–I will keep an eye on this. Have already lost so much on the enterprise as a whole…
No if you are in the social security system of another country you are exempt. I’m presuming you are UK resident? And house worth more than €150,000. But many notaires don’t acknowledge this without persuasion,
Line 112 of this form, and details in notes.
Anyone can in theory be a fiscal representative, but too complicated.
Very detailed info as usual Jane. However, if the gain is small and thus the social charges negligible, personally I wouldn’t argue over them. I think there’s always an effort:reward equation here
