I sold my French apartment in Nov 2019 and as I was not the owner on1 Jan 2020 i understood that I was no longer liable for Taxe Fonciere. I received the letter today requesting payment. I had written to them earlier this year advising I was no longer the owner and included a copy of the sales document but got no reply. Am I liable for this tax and other taxes? Thanks for your help.
Vendissimo
I would be tempted to refer the matter to the notaire who handled the sale 
You should pay the impôts fonciers on a pro-rata basis, it is the taxe d’habitation which is payable in full by whoever occupies the house (or owns it if empty) on the1st of January.
For 2019, surely, rather than 2020 - given that the sale was last November.
Hi Declan, your situation mirrors mine! I sold my French home Oct.2019 and today received the 2020 Taxe Fonciere bill. I’ve emailed our Notaire & he wants a copy of the bill sending so he can sort it out for me. Try getting in touch with your Notaire as I’m sure they’ll sort it for you. Maybe the Impots computer system is suffering from Covid brain too!!
Graham, thanks for your response. I will try and contact the Notaire. Is it your understanding that the new owner is responsible for all 2020 taxes? I had paid all 2019 taxes.
Debby, thanks for getting back. Your situation and potential solution has given me some hope. I intentionally wrote to them to inform of the sale earlier this year as I wanted to avoid exactly this situation. I will contact the Notaire and hope he is better at coming back to me than when I was looking for updates during the sales process.
Yes, that is my understanding. The current owner should be liable for paying the taxe for 2020.
The pro-rata payment is only of value if you have an agreement with the new owner, it is not a given.
We sold our house in the month of July PC, and lo and behold we had a bill for the taxe foncière in the following year.
I think Impots is saying… when the house is sold… the Seller is liable for the current year’s property taxes and not liable for the following year’s taxes… or am I misunderstanding something…
Declan, our Notaire has confirmed 2020’s bill is the responsability of the new owners in it’s entirety and we have nothing to pay. He thinks there’s just some sort of ‘glitch’ with the system,as they sent the original paperwork to the Impots with the new owners details, back in November 2019. He says I mustn’t pay & if I get anymore letters from them, to pass them onto him.
The French and their paperwork! it is a subject, which can make your hair go grey! I received 3 times the same paperwork, even though the first 2 were returned and then the thing was done, when I got hold of a person in that office!
So try to go to the tax office with all the paperwork and hopefully they are willing to help you!
That’s great to hear Debbie, such a relief for you. I’ve emailed my Notaire with a copy of the notice and await a reply. Thanks for your response
Thanks Annie, unfortunately I’m not in France so a visit is out. I hope my email does the trick otherwise it’s a call to him in my pigeon French on the telephone
Yes of course - sorry I didn’t make it clearer, it seemed obvious 
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Instead of an email, I would sent a registered letter, that way you have proof that you send the letter. Emails are easy to delete/ignore without a trace.
The French are sometimes hard to deal with, when you want something, that they do not want to cooperate with!
Annie, I wrote a letter to them earlier in the year asking them to update their records after I got a notification (about the TV license I think) but I didn’t get a reply. I wonder would a registered letter work any better?
Thanks for your help
Always send that sort of letter registered with proof of delivery. (En recommandé avec accusé de réception)
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French Bureaucracy is very stubborn! You need to prove that you are more stubborn than they are and registered mail and copies attached, every time they do not respond, will soon or later grind them down. In the end it is your money, you are fighting for! Perhaps that helps to keep on fighting.