What to do if second home was not charged taxe d’habitation?

Reader Question: We have owned our second-home in Brittany for several years, but since 2023 have not been charged taxe d’habitation. The mairie told us this was because we are not renting the property out, but other Britons we know here are still paying the tax. We previously paid via direct debit, and still pay taxe foncière.

You are correct to query this, as you should be paying taxe d’habitation (a property tax now only levied on second homes in France).

The bill (avis) for the tax usually arrives in October, or November. 

There are several ways to pay, including online or by cheque, but many people opt to request to pay it in monthly direct debit instalments, so as to spread it out. 

The latter has to be requested by June 30 if it is to apply to the bill for the year in question. Otherwise, the payments will go towards the following year’s bill. A bank account in France is also required.

Available exemptions from paying taxe d’habitation are extremely limited – only applying to those who are moved to a care home or to certain properties rented out to tourists – and in your case we cannot see any reason why you would not be paying. 

There are no specific exemptions for non-resident second-home owners from the tax so we believe your mairie has made a mistake by telling you this information. 

We looked up the information for your commune in particular, which did not cite any other exemptions from the tax.

One possible reason for your not being charged is that the home has been wrongly identified by the tax office as your main residence.

Contact local tax services instead of mairie

Therefore, you should contact the authorities over this, but you should direct your question to the local tax office rather than the mairie. 

You can find its details through the official map, with contact details, opening hours, and the address.

Alternatively, you can arrange an appointment in advance through your personal space on the French tax website.

Log in, and then click Contact et RDV button to find information for your local tax office and to make an appointment. 

Tax officials will be able to help fix the issue, which could be related to the direct debits process or a bug in the system. 

It may also be that the property was incorrectly identified as a main home in the Biens Immobiliers declaration, first required in 2023. If so, this can be rectified.

Bring any relevant documents to the meeting, including previous avis for the taxe d’habitation and more recent ones for the taxe foncière to show you pay this tax.

If payment years have been missed, you may have to settle these retrospectively, so try to budget for this. 

In theory, fines for late/non declaration could also apply. However, if you make a proactive effort to resolve the issue and as you correctly pay your other property tax, the authorities are likely to take a lenient approach if a genuine mistake has been made.