Mike32

Hi all, not had a chance to browse the forum. My name is Mike, living in the south of England and now dedicating a bit more money towards retirement. Im 32 but have saved since i was 16. My wife reckons that in 3 years time we could afford a reasonable home in Brittany. Just wondering what taxes are still liable in France one we buy a freehold. I understand there are two taxes. 1 which is similar to council tax and the second is on income. Oh and maybe a 3rd on waste collection. But then i have read that one of the taxes maybe abolished. Either way im in need of some educating. The property would be vacant for the majority of the year. Im putting my money on two years time. Just have to get the whole brexit thing out of the way.

thank you in advance.

cheers

cyrian

Hi Mike,
Welcome to the forum.
First of all I am a bit concerned by your initial comments regarding dedicating more money towards retirement.
Property in France is not an investment - as compared to the UK.
There are hotspots for property in France including Paris; Lyon and Nice.
Houses can take two years to sell and you may not get your initial investment back - even if you add a swimming pool.
If you are looking to maintain the value of your money then buy a property in the UK and rent somewhere in France.
You would then also avoid French Inheritance Tax and succession issues. Yes I see that you are 32 but you need to be aware that the rules in France are very different from the UK.
Not sure what you mean by buying freehold - that is a UK term which does not apply in France.
You are asking about local taxes.
Taxe foncière and taxe d'habitation which are jointly equivalent to Council tax.
It has been announced that Taxe d'h will be ended for the majority of households but this would not be for wealthy individuals or second home owners.
If the property will be empty for the majority of the year then you would be liable to both taxes.
Waste collection and tv licence are included in these taxes but water is paid separately.
You would need to pay these taxes in full either in one lump sum for each tax or in payments over 10 months.
HTH

EuroTrash

To be honest I think you should open mind on this. You may have seen on the news that there's a lot of unrest in France at the moment over the cost of living, taxes etc. It's very possible that the tax structure will change over the next few years. For instance a new law was introduced this year to reduce property taxes for residents on low to moderate incomes, but it's not clear how that money will be recouped by local councils. It may be that taxes for non-residents / second homes will need to be increased to balance the books.
As cyrian has said, property in France isn't really an investment because prices don't increase year on year. The cost of purchasing a house is quite high (legal fees etc) and people tend to count themselves lucky if they get their money back when they sell. So I don't see any great advantage in buying a house in France before you need it, it's not as if the prices are likely to go up significantly in the next 20 years or so.
But to answer your question - yes it would be the two property taxes, water standing charge, electricity standing charge, home insurance, cost of maintaining the grounds if you have a garden and you're not here to do it yourself, and repairs and maintenance to the property because properties that stand empty tend to need more maintenance after a bad winter than properties that are lived in.

jjmb

Definitely don't think of property as as investment in France. My parents bought a small property in rural Brittany in 2002 for €34,00. They made substantial improvements to it in the yrs they were there. In 20115 due to ill health, they had to return to the UK. The property was on the market for nearly 3 yrs and only 1 person in that time considered buying it, eventually it was sold for €20,000. In the time, it was empty, we were still responsible for electricity, land tax (which,to be fair was, minimal) and insurance. Their English neighbors who are now approaching 70, have put all 3 of their properties up for sale and even though, they are in a much better position than my parents were, expect to take 2 yrs to sell up. They don't expect to making much of profit, if any, due to the expense of selling.