Declaration of use of a French property

If you own a French property, from 1 January 2023 you will be subject to a new obligation to declare your residential property. All homeowners, whether individuals or companies (SCI, SARL, SAS, etc.), have until 30 June 2023 inclusive to make this declaration.

With the abolition of taxe d’habitation (council tax) for principal residences from 2023, the Direction générale des finances publiques (DGFiP) is asking all owners of a principal residence, secondary residence or rented accommodation to make an additional declaration to the tax authorities. The aim is to determine exactly which owners are still liable for council tax on second homes or tax on vacant accommodation.

This new occupancy declaration is provided for in the Finance Act for 2020.

What does it involve and how do I go about it?

This obligation to declare occupancy applies to all owners of residential property, whether private individuals or companies, including:

• undivided owners ;
• usufructuaries
• non-trading property companies (SCI).

For each of their properties, owners must indicate how the property is occupied:

• owner-occupier
• vacant property (unoccupied, unlet and without furniture)
• occupied free of charge
• rented

If they do not occupy the property themselves, they are required to provide information about:

• the identity of the occupants
• the period of occupation
• the type of tenancy (empty, furnished, seasonal, etc.)
• the amount of rent

The declaration can be accessed via the online service Gérer mes biens immobiliers (Manage my property) on the impots.gouv.fr website. You must first log on to « Your personal space » or « Your professional space » (for SCIs and other companies), using your tax number and password. The deadline for filing your tax return is 30 June 2023. A 150€ fine might be applied for late returns.

To make this new filing procedure easier, the occupancy data known to the tax authorities will be pre-entered. Thereafter, only a change in situation will require a declaration.