34 million homeowners and 70 million properties are affected
The deadline to file income tax returns has now passed. Corrections can be made from July 31 to December 4, 2024 inclusive. But another obligation tends to go unnoticed: taxpayers have until June 30 to declare the real estate they own.
This new rule, in effect since last year, aims to identify taxpayers who still owe property tax, particularly on second homes and vacant housing.
All owners are affected, regardless of the types of housing and occupation: houses, apartments, outbuildings such as garages, parking lots or cellars. The obligation includes second homes, rented empty or furnished properties, those lent or vacant, but also the 18 million properties occupied as main residences by their owners.
To comply, you need to visit the portal impots.gouv.fr, in the section "Manage my real estate". From this space, it is possible to make an occupancy declaration by providing its nature and, if necessary, the identity of the occupants, their duration of occupancy and the amount of rent excluding charges.
Those who forget this declaration or make mistakes are subject to a fine of €150 per dwelling and per premises. In 2023, for the first year of implementation of this obligation, the tax services had shown leniency. This will not be the case this year: you only have a few more days to accomplish this task if it hasn't already been done.
Numerous errors on the housing tax
The tax reporting system is not clear for all taxpayers. The tax services themselves have indicated that last year, despite three deadline extensions, only eight out of ten owners filled out the report. As a result, the number of housing tax rebates jumped by 50%, some main residences were erroneously taxed as they were deemed secondary residences. According to the tax services data, no less than one in seven notices was wrong.
This year, the tax administration declares that they have taken corrective measures. However, it remains that the owners have to take the necessary steps...
