Landlords must declare rent in French property declaration form from 2026
New requirement relates to the Biens immobiliers online property ownership form
The figures will be used in a report on reform of the valeurs locatives cadastrales
Marc Bruxelle / Shutterstock
People who let property will be obliged to state the amount of the rent they charge in their Biens immobliers online property-owners’ declaration from 2026, according to a publication by state auditor the Cour des comptes.
The Cour says the information will feed into a report to parliament on reform of the valeurs locatives cadastrales (VLCs).
These are theoretical annual rental figures assigned to properties, that are used to calculate local taxes.
They have not been fully overhauled to account for changes in the property market, since 1970. Reforms have been planned for years but have been repeatedly delayed.
It is a complex area, as simply raising VLC figures to the level of ‘real’ market rents for a given property would cause huge tax hikes, since councils set their percentage tax rates allowing for the existing assigned values (usually much less than a 'market' annual rent).
The rates are applied to half of the VLC to arrive at the tax bill in the case of taxe foncière, or the whole VLC in the case of taxe d'habitation.
It is rather expected that the information collected will be used to rebalance assigned values taking account of changes in the desirability of certain properties or areas today, as compared to 1970.
The latest intention is that information gathered next year will be reflected in changes to the VLCs in 2029.
