Does anyone know anything about this tax, which some friends of mine who have a holiday home near here have been asked to pay? They have had the house for 14 years and never been asked before, and I've never heard of it. Can't find any info online, either, or at least not in English.
Go & see their local tax people! I'm fairly sure that just as there are some benefits to setting up a company to do things like buy a property, there are downsides as well & this is probably one of them.
Ah! Thanks, Veronique. I think they did buy it as a company. Is there anything they can do to avoid it? How can they find out more about it?
It is a tax paid by legal entities on buildings they, or their shareholders own - so if your friends have set up a company and that company owns their property then they are liable. If they own it as private people then there's some mistake, probably.