Has anybody been fined for not declaring theri swimming pool and if so how much. Just had an email form Impot.gov saying I have 90 days to declare it. Bought the house 20years ago with a semi in the ground pool. I believe at the time there was no need to declare it but the law changed and anything over 10 X10 meters and fixed had to be declared which unfortunately I did not. Now expecting a stinker of a fine!!
20 years ago when building pools there was always the need to register. The only get out was to register as a reservoir I was told by my french neighbour, he was born in the village and got away with a lot like building his house without planing or permission, quite a character. Semi in ground was not a get out either. Hopefully not too larger fine.
Is it over 10 x 10m, ie more than 100m2? If so you need ro do a retrospective planning permission not just a declaration préalable. And you need to declare it on your impôts page too, as it is a bien immobilier.
Do so as soon as you possibly can and hope you get a slapped wrist and demand for back payment of the extra tax foncière you should have paid, plus the taxe d’amanegement, and not a fine. And grovel in your absolute best flowery French.
Fines can be eye-watering, some €1000 a square metre or more. The search for undeclared pools has been profitable for the authorities!
(Reservoirs containing large amounts of water have to meet major safety regulations now).
Here’s an extract of a real case reported in Le Figaro
Finalement, Daniel a réussi à déclarer sa piscine dans les délais impartis, en fournissant toutes les informations qui lui étaient demandées. En agissant rapidement, il a pu éviter le pire. Mais il a tout de même dû s’acquitter des taxes dues sur plusieurs années, notamment la taxe foncière et la taxe d’aménagement, auxquelles s’ajoutent des pénalités pour absence de déclaration. La facture s’élevait au total à plus de mille euros. Une somme qui reste bien inférieure à ce qu’il aurait pu payer en cas de mauvaise foi.
Une destruction évitée de justesse
Daniel a surtout échappé à une sanction bien plus radicale qu’une simple amende : la démolition de sa piscine. Les autorités disposent de moyens renforcés afin de faire respecter les règles d’urbanisme et peuvent, quand les constructions ont été faites sans aucune autorisation, exiger la remise en état du terrain. En d’autres termes, une piscine peut être détruite si son propriétaire n’a pas respecté les règles.
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Are they asking for a retrospective or just to be declared on the impots for taxing it?
One presumes by”declare” they mean both, ie the fiscale and the urbanisme.
Even if built before the law change in 2007 it should have been declared as ignorance of the law is not an acceptable excuse here.
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This is a detailed explanation of the possible fines etc -
Undeclared swimming pools: what you need to know – Paradise Immobilier
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My son pulled out of buying a house last year because the seller admitted she did not apply for any permission to put an in ground pool in, son knew the impôts would come after him eventually if he bought the house so didn’t want that. There have been lots of reports on the news about drones checking now for pools and tying them up with declarations, untapped source of money for the government.
Hopefully the statute of limitations will assist westo and it will be just back tax.
Thanks for that. As the pool was there before a bought the house 20 years ago I would think I would only be liable for back tax
I think the fine is €1200 per m2, not €1200 per pool.
- Back Taxes: Owners may be liable for up to four years of unpaid taxe d’aménagement and taxe foncière, plus late payment penalties.
Hopefully outside of the statute of limitations and maybe just 4 years of back tax, that would be a lot less onerous.
Maybe people with undeclared pools or temporary not more than 3 months (bloody short summer there France) should buy a camouflage net to cover them with 
Water companies can monitor large amounts being pulled from the system so another thing to be wary of if you empty and refill.
And hope a neighbour who pays for their pool doesn’t dob them in.
We bought a house with undeclared pool in 2019. Pool was built around 1985.
Got a note from impots in 2023. Went to the mairie and declared to impots immediately.
Declare asap as (depending on mood) they can be quite lenient.
We paid back taxes from day of declaration and ever since.
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It was meant for the above ground lot, 3 months in France’s summer is daft. So to avoid taxes they empty it, wait a month maybe and then refill again? That’s a waste of a valuable resource. But hey it’s about collecting tax isn’t it. Don’t get me started to the ridiculous 2 week version if it close to an old building, there is an even greater waste of water.
1200 Euros is the minimum fine, unlikely to be 1200E per m2 as that would be over 38K for an 8 x 4 pool.
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Especially if your water company fitted the meters that report daily usage over cellular data links.
Although that is what has been written on the doc I viewed you would have to be really really mean. That said it’s more than 10 years ago so enforceable? Nah different dept, this is property tax
I wonder whether an above ground pool that is located indoors, for example inside a barn, needs to be declared?