If you own a house, apartment, chalet or other type of property in France then you will be paying some property tax - although exactly which taxes and how much depends on a variety of factors, including what you use the property for and the area it is in.
Broadly speaking, property taxes come in two types - taxe foncière and taxe d'habitation. Taxe foncière is paid by all property owners while taxe d'habitation is now paid only by second-home owners. Tenants no longer pay any property taxes.
The exact amount paid for each is determined partly by the value of the property, but also by various decisions taken by local and national governments each year on the tax rates.
Taxe foncière - the tax paid by all property owners is calculated based on three things; the rentable value of the property, the national government tax rate and the local government tax rate (or several local government rates, depending on the area).
The national government rate is adjusted for inflation - this year that will be adding 1.7 percent to your bill, compared to last year.
The rentable value (valeur locative) is the amount that the tax office considers you would be able to charge in rent for the property, were you to rent it out. You can find this rate listed on your tax bill and it is regularly revised, the reflect the changes in the rental market.
Although you cannot contest the government tax rate, you can contest the rentable value rate if you consider it is based on wrong information or is wildly out of step with the local market - full details on how to challenge a property tax bill here.
If you have done significant work on your home - eg added an extension or installed a swimming pool you can expect the rentable value - and therefore your tax bill - to increase.
The biggest variation is in the local tax rate. Many communes imposed big increases on taxe foncière in 2023 or 2024, in part to compensate for the loss of income from taxe d'habitation, so this year it seems that fewer communes are have opted to increase their rate. The ones that have are mostly the bigger towns, including Nîmes, Nantes, Montpellier, Bordeaux and Angers, which all now have an average annual bill of €1,700 or more.
The full list of communes will be available at the end of the summer.
Taxe d'habitation - this tax, previously known as the 'householders' tax' has seen a big change in recent years. Previously it was charged to whoever occupied the property, whether they were the owner or a tenant, however it has since been gradually phased out and since 2022 only second-home owners pay it.
Like taxe foncière it is also based on the rentable value of the property, but multiplied by a different national and local government rate. In addition to the basic rate, communes that are designated as a zone tendue (area with a housing shortage) can also choose to apply an extra surcharge on the taxe d'habitation. The extra money is then used to create affordable housing for locals.
In 2025 3,690 communes are able to levy the surcharge on second homes and 1,628 (44 percent) of them have decided to apply the maximum rate. There are regional variations though, with areas that have a high number of tourists and second homes more likely to apply the highest rate - in Brittany 82.7 percent of communes opted for the maximum rate, Nouvelle-Aquitaine (67.1 percent), Pays de la Loire (63.9 percent), Occitanie (51.4 percent), Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (50.4 percent) and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (49.5 percent) were all higher than the national average.
You can find the full list of communes which have applied the maximum rate here (scroll down to page 4).
Empty homes tax - there are also two taxes that can potentially be levied on unoccupied properties - taxe sur les logements vacants (TLV) and the taxe d’habitation sur les logements vacants (THLV).
These are levied only on properties that are unoccupied and also unfurnished - so wouldn't apply to second homes, even if you haven't been able to visit recently. Crucially they are levied instead of taxe d'habitation, not as well as.
Bills for this tax are sent out in December, while other property tax bills arrive in September or October.
They too are levied by communes that have a housing shortage, which can set their own rate - full details here.
OK, so how much will my bill be this year?
The complexity of the formula and the wide variation in local rates means that it's hard to predict exact tax bills.
In 2024 the average annual bill for taxe foncière was €1,082 (or €90 a month), an overall increase of 5.7 percent on 2023.
Number crunching by the French financial journal JDN puts this year's average taxe foncière bill at €1,092, representing a fairly modest increase on last year - however these averages hide wide regional variations, while those with larger properties will obviously pay more.
Taxe d'habitation, for those who pay it, is usually billed at a similar amount for the basic rate, or higher if you are in a commune that applies the surcharge.
READ ALSO: Calendar: Tax deadlines in France in 2025
Exemptions
Some people are exempt from property taxes, or can be charged at a lower rate.
Age - a reduced rate is charged for taxe foncière for over 65s. Over 75s can be exempt altogether, but this is based on income - if your income is below the threshold rate, then deductions will usually be applied automatically, based on your previous year's tax declarations.
Disability - people who are in receipt of French benefits for disability or long-term illness can be exempt from taxe foncière, and the deduction should be applied automatically.
Income - people on low incomes can also benefit from an exemption - find full details of all exemptions here.
The above apply only to taxe foncière, there are no exemptions to taxe d'habitation because it is assumed that if you own a second home, you are probably alright, financially speaking.
January 1st - property taxes are charged based on ownership on January 1st of the tax year. So if you bought a property on January 2nd 2025, you will not pay property tax this year - your first bill will arrive in autumn 2026. Conversely, if you sold your property on January 2nd 2025, you will receive one final tax bill this autumn.
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