Most homeowners in France to be spared property declaration fine

Most property owners who fail to correctly declare status changes through the biens immobiliers form will once again avoid fines this year, French tax authorities have confirmed. 

Authorities will focus attention on ‘large’ property owners, who have at least 200 units in their portfolio.

“For the moment, leniency remains the order of the day for individuals,” the Direction générale des finances publiques (DGFiP) told Le Figaro.

In place since 2023, the annual property declaration, known as biens immobiliers, was required to be completed by all owners of a property in France. 

Homeowners now only need to update the declaration in the event that changes took place to the property in the preceding year (for example, the 2026 declaration must be made if changes took place across 2025).

This includes a change in occupancy status (a property changing from a main to second home, becoming vacant or unfurnished, or being rented out to a new tenant) or if improvements to the property are made.

If there are no changes made to the property, owners do not need to do anything.

Declarations are made online through the biens immobiliers section of a property owner’s personal tax site, with a deadline of June 30. Read our article here for more information on the declarations.

The declaration is used by tax authorities to assess whether the second-home property tax (taxe d’habitation) should be levied.

Larger entities targeted

When the declaration was first introduced in 2023, a fine of €150 per undeclared property was also announced alongside it.

Confusion during the first declaration led authorities to confirm no fines would be issued for non-completion in the first year.

Despite the process smoothing out, similar amnesties were issued in 2024 and 2025 for owners who did not make the required updates. Last year, then-Minister of Public Accounts Amélie de Montchalin said fines would finally be levied on owners who fail to correctly declare from 2026 onwards. 

However, authorities have once again pushed enforcement back. 

Instead of fining all those who fail to correctly declare changes, penalties will be limited to ‘large property owners’ meaning legal entities or landlords that own more than 200 units.

This largely applies to around 3,400 entities that have failed to correctly declare properties, including local authorities, social housing providers, and institutional investors. 

They are being targeted as incorrect declarations can lead to incorrect tax bills being handed out to tenants, leading to potential over-charging – affecting the tenant’s purchasing power – or undercharging, leaving local authorities with a funding gap to plug.

A report from the court of public accounts (Cour des comptes) in 2025 estimated that a third of properties not declared correctly through the biens immobiliers platform belonged to people or owners who hold multiple properties.

“We’ve identified a number of landlords who have an obligation to file but declare just about anything, in any way they can, or even nothing at all,” said head of tax management DGFiP Olivier Touvenin last year, with authorities clearly prepared for this year’s change in stance. 

Groups who are at risk of a fine were sent a letter in April informing them of the impending penalty.

“They must submit their observations, particularly any difficulties they may have encountered with the online service, within one month of the penalty being issued,” a DGFiP spokesperson said to Le Figaro. 

Once a fine is issued, presumably after June if landlords fail to correctly update details, they must pay within 45 days.